A Father's Love (Part Two)
by SLPikachu
Summary: Picks up where A Father's Love left off. Luke is still slowly learning how to be a father and raise his daughter on his own while dealing with what life throws at them. (Currently starting off in season four) *On hiatus*
1. Chapter 1

**Stop! This is Part two of an already ongoing story. If you haven't read the first part, go read that first. Otherwise, you can continue.**

 **Disclaimer: This story follows the series!**

* * *

Chapter 1

Once again, the school year was wrapped up and Shelby had to say good-bye to another teacher and set of classmates. This time, though, it was harder to do so since this was the first year she had a favorite teacher and was well liked by her classmates despite having the scariest dad in all of second grade. Something of which Rachel found amusing when she found out.

On the last day of school, Shelby and the boys stopped by the diner for an afterschool snack with their shirts written on all over with everyone's autograph.

Luke did not understand why the kids had writing all over their shirts. "Shell, why did you let your class write all over you?"

She shrugged. "It was fun." On the bright side, Shelby was really coming along on her ending T struggle. Ever since Jess had successfully gotten her to say the words on their own, Miss Kelly had continued to work with her getting them down in complete sentences. Though, some days were harder than others just because of Shelby not feeling up to practicing, on the count of everything that had happened. Despite all of that, because of her cousin's coaching, Shelby was still able to almost master the ending T, only occasionally slipping up.

Luke still wasn't set on having one of her shirts written on, but didn't push it. Instead, he made sure to let her know the shirt wouldn't be able to be washed, otherwise, her class' autographs would be washed off.

"I's okay," she shrugged it off. "The shir's kind of ge'ting small anyway."

Her optimism put a smile on his face. "What would you three like for your snack?" he asked the kids.

"Actually, we were wondering if we could get our snack from next door," Ethan was the one to ask, pointing towards Taylor's new store.

The smile quickly vanished though tried to hide his displeasure, considering kids didn't care who was distributing it if ice cream was involved. "Sure," he told them.

They cheered before rushing back outside, knowing Shelby had money in her wallet. The only reason they probably stopped there first was because Luke preferred Shelby checked in before going anywhere else after school.

Rachel had requested if she could pick Shelby up on her last day but that was when Luke informed her, Shelby wasn't getting picked up from school anymore unless there was an appointment or something they had to go to right afterwards. He also told her that Shelby was now going off, on her own now, either by herself or with her friends, and was even riding her bike to the Independence Inn to help out. Though, the last few months, Shelby had to help out without any compensation since the inn caught fire and Lorelai had to lay off most of the employees. The kid didn't mind, of course, happy to be of help and wanted to still wanted to help out when the Dragonfly finally opened.

Letting Shelby decide when she wanted to finally see her mom, they decided on the Saturday after school was out for the summer, wanting her dad there. Lorelai and Rory had already left for their Europe trip and Jess was still gone. To Luke's surprise, Jess did call, out of the blue, but he only said enough to ask for Shelby.

A part of him wanted to go downstairs and pick up the phone to listen in. Luke figured he was already in hot water enough that it probably would add fuel to the fire, so he chose not to. He did try to ask how Jess was doing which all Shelby said was that he was doing okay. Luke was just glad Jess was keeping his word and keeping in contact with his cousin this time.

Rachel showed up at the diner, late in the morning, between rushes when the diner only had a few customers.

Informing Caesar he was going upstairs, Luke took her up.

"Is it me or does Caesar look different?" Rachel pointed out as they climbed the stairs.

"Uh, that's actually a new Caesar. The old one had to move home to help care for his mother," he explained.

She gave him a confused look. "You hired another cook with the same name?"

"It just worked out that way by coincidence," he shrugged as they reached the top. Luke and Rachel headed inside where Shelby was inside, playing her GameCube. Since Lorelai, Rory, and Shelby would be all out of town during her birthday, Lorelai wanted to get Shelby a new game, and also had to reassure her, it was okay since she had been been there when Rory found out about the financial aid for Yale falling through and Lorelai lost her job due to Mia having to sell the Independence Inn. Shelby had told them she would have been satisfied with a gumball for her birthday.

"Now she tells us," Lorelai had said before admitting she was only teasing and assured it was just fine, that she had plenty saved for quite a while.

"Hey, kiddo. Look who it is," Luke announced when they came through the door of the apartment.

The kid peeled her eyes away from her new _Legend of Zelda_ game to look over at the adults coming in.

Rachel took a few more steps closer than Luke did. "Hey, Peanut," she greeted. "I've missed ya."

Shelby looked down at her wireless controller to press the start button to pause her game, bringing up the items menu. She then set it on the coffee table before standing to her feet, and slowly made her way around. Her eyes never left her mother.

"Wow," Rachel said in amazement, "you've grown in the last year, Peanut."

"I'm seven now. Almos' eight."

She smiled. "I know. You're growing up so fast, I can't believe it."

Shelby didn't say anything that time.

There was some awkward silence until Rachel broke it, trying to make small talk. "How have you been?"

"Good," Shelby replied. "I jus' finished the second grade."

"I heard. Did you have anymore school concerts like you did in first grade?"

"I had one righ' before Chris'mas," she replied.

Back and forth, the two would make small talk as Luke volleyed his eyes between mother and daughter. He could see Shelby holding onto the bottom hem of her Celtics jersey. Her own eyes kept dropping towards the floor even when Shelby would lift them up towards her mother again.

"Your dad says you love basketball now," Rachel pointed out. "How's that going?"

"Good," she replied. Luke could tell how nervous the kid was by the short answers. "I broke my arm during a game and had to have surgery to put pins in my elbow so it could heal."

"Ouch," she replied in sympathy. "I broke my arm when I was a kid, too, jumping off the roof."

That puzzled look of Shelby's appeared on her face. "Why would you jump off your roof for?"

"Well, when you're four years old and have an older brother, stuff like that happens. Your uncle told me I could fly like Mary Poppins if I jump off with an umbrella." Rachel laughed at that.

Shelby did not. "The only thing Jess told me was that he could punch me to help my tooth fall out. He didn' though," she shook her head.

"That's good to hear." More silence followed.

This time, it was Shelby who finally broke it. "Want to meet Gexie?"

"Sure."

Shelby headed over to her side of the apartment, motioning for Rachel to follow. Luke watched them until he decided to head over to the kitchen area to tend to the dishes that were left in the sink.

"This is mine and Jess' room," he heard Shelby say. "Dad got us bunk beds."

"It looks nice. I never got to see the place once it was done," Rachel replied.

"I like it," she said. "I sleep up top." The bed creaked, letting Luke know Shelby had climbed up there and then it sounded like she climbed back down. "This is my newes' 'tuffed animal, Charizard. He's my favorite _Pokemon_."

"Still like dragons, I see," Rachel commented, harmlessly teasing her.

"Charizard isn' a dragon type," Shelby corrected. "He's a fire-flying type."

"Oh. He looks like a dragon, though."

"He's not."

"I'm just saying…"

"He's not, okay!" Shelby suddenly snapped, taking even Luke by surprise.

Drying his hands on a dish towel, Luke walked over to see around the wall divider. "Shell, you okay?" She was holding Charizard in her arms, staring at it.

She looked up at him to reply, "Yeah, I'm okay, Dad."

"You sure?" He felt he had to double check which she nodded. Luke then went back to washing the dishes. The bed creaked a couple more times. Luke looked behind him to see Shelby heading over to Gexie's tank, not holding Charizard anymore, and lifted a corner of the lid to place her hand inside. It was one of the rare moments the little leopard gecko was awake during the day. She moved into the kid's waiting hand and allowed Shelby to lift her out.

Now using two hands to make sure Gexie didn't fall, Shelby introduced the little critter. "This is Gexie."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rachel kneel to the kid's level. "Hey there, Gexie. It's nice to meet you." She asked for permission to pet her.

"You have to be very gentle and only use one finger," Shelby explained. "And you have to wash your hands afterwards because leopard geckos have a slimy film that can make you sick."

Rachel smiled at her daughter's knowledge of her pet leopard gecko. "Okay," she agreed. Like Shelby had told her to do, Rachel reached over to pet Gexie, using only her finger. Being skittish, Gexie scurried up the kid's arm away from the newcomer.

"Gexie is shy like me," Shelby told her mom, holding a hand up, protectively, making sure Gexie didn't fall off her arm. "I's okay, Gexie. I's just my mom. No need to be afraid." Luke couldn't help smile at his daughter trying to reassure her leopard gecko. "It takes time before Gexie will be okay with you. It took a long time for her to like Jess, too. It also took time for Jess to like Gexie so tha's probably why. Lor-lai isn' allowed to gecko sit if Dad and I ever go camping."

"Why is that, Peanut?"

Shelby retold the hamster story Luke had told her, making sure to include the turtle.

"I'm sure Lorelai isn't that bad with pets. Small caged pets are harder to care for than cats and dogs are. Maybe one day she could get a dog or something. I can see her as a dog owner more than anything."

Shelby didn't respond for a moment. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw she was watching Gexie.

After a minute or so, Rachel told her, "So, listen. I have a very special friend I'd like you to meet, too. He's really nice and would love to meet you."

Shelby looked up. "You mean a boyfriend?" she asked, knowing what special friend really means.

"Well, yes, actually. Would you like to meet him?"

Luke didn't hear her respond but when he looked back over his shoulder again, he saw her shoulder go back down as if she had shrugged. Finishing the last dish, Luke set it in the other sink and let the soapy water out of the one he was washing the dishes in. He dried his hands off on the same dish towel as he made his way over.

"Rachel," he got her attention. "Maybe hold off on introducing Shelby for the time being."

"I was just asking, Luke," she assured him. "I wasn't going to force her." Rachel turned back to Shelby. "I told him about how it's hard for you to speak to new people, Peanut. So he won't expect you to, right away."

Shelby was watching Gexie again, petting her head with the side of her finger.

Luke gave his little buddy a few minutes to answer before answering for her. "Maybe wait until Shelby comes home from her trip," he suggested and made sure to check with her. "That sound good, kiddo?" He saw her head nod without lifting from Gexie.

"Okay, Peanut. We can wait until after you get back from your trip," Rachel willingly accepted. "I'm just glad to be able to see you." She reached out to rub the little girl's upper arm. Shelby still did not look up. "I still love you, Peanut. That never changed, I promised."

"I'm sorry I told you I hated you," Shelby finally uttered.

"That really hurt to hear," she said, making Luke let out a quiet sigh under his breath. "I was only looking out for you, Peanut."

Shelby continued petting her little friend instead of responding.

"I know now you didn't mean it and I'm glad to be able to see you again. I really have missed you, and I thought of you every single day. Your aunt Rebecca has kept me up to date about what's been going on the past year and I hear my family been spoiling you, rotten." Rachel tried to laugh a little to help lighten things, making a playful grab at her side.

Shelby finally moved to place Gexie back in her tank, who wandered inside her warm hide to go back to sleep. "I have to go wash my hands," she informed her mother, holding up both her hands.

Rachel nodded before the little girl headed for the bathroom. She rose to her feet, pulling out a small container of hand sanitizer, squeezing some into her palm. Interlinking her arms in front of her, Rachel watched the floor as she stepped a bit closer to Luke.

"Guess we're starting over, huh?" she said, softly.

"Looks like it."

Rachel made small talk with Luke, as well. "Since I can be in her life again, I was thinking of reopening my studio."

"Sounds good," he quickly shrugged.

"Kirk find another job just fine? I kind of walked out of him too without an explanation."

"Trust me, Kirk's had many jobs since you left," Luke assured her.

"That's good," she nodded. "He was a pretty good assistant and a hard worker. I would have gladly been a reference for him."

"I'm sure he would have liked that." He looked up in time to see Shelby had emerged from the bathroom, and headed straight for where she left her wireless controller, picking it up and pressed start to resume her game. "Shell, you still have a guest."

Shelby made to press start once again until Rachel spoke up.

"That's okay." She walked over to where Shelby was sitting on the edge of the couch. "Mind if I watch, Peanut?"

Shelby shook her head and continued playing.

Rachel sat down on the end of the couch to watch. "You got a new game, I see." She tried to smile for her.

"Lor-lai got it for me for my birthday since we both wouldn't be here for it," she explained.

"They got the system or the game?"

"The game. Everyone got me the GameCube for Chris'mas."

"Oh, I see," Rachel nodded, watching the TV screen. "It kind of looks like the one the boys gave you."

Shelby didn't respond that time. Since it was a game her and Jess would play together, Shelby didn't want to play that particular _Legend of Zelda_ game anymore, or at least not at the moment. She tried but shortly after starting up the game and playing around for a minute or two, Shelby had to turn the game off. She did admit she was happy to have this new game and the sequel to the other one that she also had gotten from her cousins. The _Legend of Zelda_ series was slowly becoming her third favorite video game series after _Pokemon_ and the _Super Mario Bros_. It was very clear that Luke was raising a gamer kid. He, himself, had spent a good amount of time in the town's arcade as a teenager so it wasn't really much of a surprise.

Leaving the girls alone, Luke headed back to finish the dishes. He couldn't help snicker to himself when Rachel had commented on the absence of the cord on her controller just as Lorelai had.

Rachel stayed for another hour before Luke had to head back downstairs for the lunch rush.

Shelby saved and turned her game off, letting her dad know she wanted to work her hours for the day. They walked Rachel downstairs, who ordered a coffee to go. She tried asking for a hug good-bye but Shelby wasn't up for it quite yet. Instead, they just exchanged waves as Rachel told her, she would see her later.

There was another week before Shelby had to leave for her trip to Florida. Luke made sure to help get her all packed and ready, picking up whatever she needed from the store while preparing for his own trip. Shelby wanted to bring some of her own money with her in case she wanted to spend it on either herself or to bring back souvenirs. Her, Lorelai, and Rory had promised each other to get each other something on each of their trips. So Luke ended up requesting an extra bank card for Ron or Cheryl to hold onto. By this point, they were close enough friends to them, he felt he could trust them with something like that.

When the day had finally arrived Luke would have to say good-bye to his little buddy, he couldn't help get a little choked up and protective, going off on a rant on the dos and don'ts of being in a different state and being a guest in somebody else's house. All Shelby could get in was, "I will, Dad."

Thankfully, Ron came to the kid's rescue, reassuring Shelby would be well taken care of and stated he didn't see Shelby even being a naughty child for them or his parents.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, he smiled down at his little buddy. Kneeling to her level, Luke squeezed her tight and kissed the side of her head. "Love ya, kiddo," he told her.

"Love you too, Dad," she replied, squeezing him in return.

Pulling back to look at her, he said, "Call me when you get there, okay?"

"I will."

Squeezing her one last time and holding a really long kiss to her head, this time, Luke pulled himself away to let Shelby climb into the family's minivan, next to where Alan was sitting on the front bench, fastening her seat belt.

He waved just as Cheryl pulled the side door closed which Shelby waved back. Luke watched them as Ron pulled away from the curb and headed for the airport. Even though it was the second trip Shelby was taking without him, it still did not make things any easier.

It wasn't until later that night when Luke was closing up, Shelby was able to call and check in, letting him know she had gotten there, safe. She couldn't stay on for long because Ron's parents were taking them all out to dinner, but Shelby filled him in on how the plane trip was and her first impressions of Ron's parents. Glad she was doing well so far, Luke and Shelby hung up reminding each other they loved the other.

Even though he was known as a loner kind of guy, it surprisingly was difficult being alone in the apartment for the first time in two years. Thankfully, Luke only had to do it for another few days before him and Nicole left on their trip.

"You okay?" Nicole asked once they were on the road.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine," he lied. The whole thing made him nervous to the core, and the separation from his kid wasn't helping matters much.

"You miss Shelby, don't you?" She gave him a knowing smirk, holding her arms folded in front of her.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Just a little," Nicole teased with a slight nod.

The lighthearted humor did help him relax a little.

"I'm not a parent, myself, or anything, but I'm sure she'll be okay," she reassured him. "Shelby is a tough little girl."

He nodded over at at her. "I know." It didn't keep him from worrying.

On the road trip leading up to the cruise, Luke called either Ron or Cheryl to check in and talk with his little buddy once a day, who seemed to be having the best time of her life. They had already gotten to shoot the paintball guns which Shelby was very proud of herself for hitting one empty soda can.

Luke talked and listened through the hotel room's speaker phone so Nicole could be a part of the conversation a couple times. Shelby was happy to share her tales of adventure with both of them. But once Luke and Nicole got aboard the cruise ship, the calls had to be put on hold since there wasn't any phones on the boat.

The cruise was supposed to be a getaway for couples from life's stresses. Unfortunately, not having access to a phone to talk to his little buddy only produced more stress. That, doubled with the lousy shows they went to, Luke couldn't help chug down beer after beer. With all the other guests around them, celebrating anniversaries and saying how much they loved each other, Luke couldn't help but look over and let it out. It was pretty much a blur but he vaguely remembered asking Nicole if she wanted to get married.

Both of them had been drinking so it was a blur for Nicole, too. But they remembered her saying yes which Luke added the suggestion of getting it over with there on the ship. The whole night felt like someone was constantly fast-forwarding everything. The next thing he knew, they were standing in front of the ship's captain, getting married.

The next morning, Luke woke up, immediately clutching a hand to his forehead. Man, hangovers had to be the worst.

Nicole stirred beside him.

Once the couple was able to fully wake and realize where they were and what they did, they stared at each other in utter regret.

 _What the hell had they done?!_ Luke couldn't help yell inside of his head.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: This story follows the TV series!**

Chapter 2

As the cruise continued, Luke and Nicole tried to ignore it like it hadn't happened and participated in the activities instead. Snorkeling was fun and interesting. In fact, Luke felt Shelby would enjoy it and wished he had brought a waterproof camera. But of course, reality chased after them and caught up as the cruise came to an end and they were on land once again.

The drive home was mostly in silence except for when they had to say something. They even booked separate hotel rooms whenever they stopped some place for the night.

Towards the end of the trip home, Nicole was the one who finally addressed it.

"So, we're married." It was weird hearing the statement out loud. Luke was still trying to pretend like it hadn't happened, but hearing it said out loud that they were indeed married? Aren't people supposed to make these kinds of mistakes right out of high school? Or in their twenties?

He let out a long breath. "Yeah, guess so." How was Luke supposed to explain this to Shelby? She knew there would be a chance he would propose, but not actually get married. How was she going to take this, especially when they were about to work on her relationship with Rachel? Sure she loved Nicole, but… Shelby would have liked to have been there to see her dad get married. Luke would have liked for his little buddy to have been there. In fact… No, that's stupid. Pretty sure that wasn't the norm. Though, since when did Luke care about what was normal?

"It's not that I don't care about you," Nicole continued. She was looking elsewhere, probably trying to make sense of it all. He was. "It's just… This wasn't how I wanted it," she admitted.

Luke was staring ahead, glad he was driving. He tried to steal a glance out of the corner of his eye. It wasn't easy, to say the least. "No, I understand," he managed to reply. "With Shelby's mother back and having to go see her old therapist to try and fix their relationship, it's probably not the best time for her dad to get married."

Nicole finally stole a look over at him. "Though, I do love Shelby very much. I wouldn't want to get between her and her mother, either."

"So, what should we do?" Luke forced himself to steal a glance from the corner of his eye.

She shrugged. "I'll probably head back to New York."

"Yeah, and I'll head back to Stars Hollow." And that they did.

Luke stopped through New York to drop Nicole off, offering to help carry in her stuff before heading home, pulling in late. He locked the door to the diner behind him and headed straight for upstairs, flipping on the light as he walked in the door to the apartment.

One of the first things he did was check on Gexie. Even though Luke had closed down the diner during the trip, he had requested for either John or Caesar to come in and feed Gexie every few days.

The little gecko was over on the cool side of the tank, getting a drink of water from her bowl. Luke decided to drop in a few crickets and reached in to grab the water dish since the water was almost gone. Since he's been gone a couple weeks, Luke made a note to clean out the tank the next day.

With Gexie taken care of, Luke walked across the room to his side, heading towards the bathroom to shower. It was already late but since he wasn't really that tired yet, Luke took notice of the pile of stuff on the kitchen table he hadn't gotten to. Most of it was all of the papers Shelby had brought home, the last day of school.

Heading over, he sat down and began going through everything. Some of it, Luke put into a pile to keep. He had a box in the closet where he kept a lot of the artwork and best tests Shelby had made or taken, for old time's sake. Then the other stuff like all the random worksheets and most of the quizzes, Luke threw away into the trash can he had placed beside his chair.

Now and then, he would chuckle reading what Shelby had written. On some of the reading worksheets where she had to write answers to questions from a paragraph or short story, questioning why a character did what they did. Oh, yeah, this was his kid alright. Though, they were funny, the worksheets still went into the trash. It was great for a quick laugh and all, but Luke knew he couldn't keep all of them. Not when the kid still had ten more years worth of school assignments left.

Time passed as Luke continued looking and reading through all of the papers and artwork, keeping not only his favorites but what Shelby had said was what she was most proud of, as he drank some tea he had made. Eventually, he came across a report that had instantly grabbed his attention. It was one of Shelby's reports written a few months ago at the beginning of the calendar year while her class was learning about history's "heroes".

 _We have been learning about heroes. My hero is actually my dad. He's always there for me and makes me feel better when I am sad. He can make me laugh a lot! He takes me camping and he lets me help in the diner._

Luke smiled at the words Shelby had written about him.

 _But my dad isn't my only hero and I want to talk about him too._

That part was what pulled his interest in.

 _My other hero is my cousin Jess. He helps me with my homework and to talk too. He told me his life sucked when he was a kid so he wants to make sure mine doesn't suck even if that means doing stuff he doesn't want to do. Like when I ask him to play Nintendo with me. It's funny because I think he really does like it. He just won't say so._ Luke chuckled to himself. _Jess is always looking out for me like my dad does. He taught me how to fight and protect myself in case they can't because they won't always be there. Jess says I can do anything I want to and not to let anybody tell me I can't. I told him the same but he always gets real quiet when I do. I don't make Jess talk if he doesn't want to because I don't like when people make me talk sometimes. Sometimes we just sit there and don't say anything and listen to the birds or the lake. That's one of my favorite times because sometimes just being with my big brother is good. That's what I call Jess and he calls me his baby sister. We don't have any brothers or sisters but we act like we are brother and sister. We fight and annoy each other sometimes. But we really do love each other and will do anything for each other. I had a friend called a mentor. Her name was Bailey. She said there was a family out there for me and she was right. I'm glad to have my dad and big brother around._

Luke flipped the page the report was written on, over. The other two pages stapled to the report were just a report web that Shelby had to write out the main ideas, and her rough draft that had a lot of red ink and comments written on by Mr. Harris, of spelling and word choice mistakes. Her writing has improved a lot this school year. Most of the credit was due to Mr. Harris working with each student, individually, not wanting any one of them falling behind. Shelby worked hard, too. Between her hard work, Mr. Harris, and Luke, and especially, Jess, it seemed like second grade had turned out to be her best year, yet, so far. Hopefully, third grade will be even better.

Flipping back to the report, he couldn't help read through it a second time. Reading this after having to kick Jess out, made his heart crumble to pieces. Luke dropped the personal hero report on the table and dropped his face into his hands, rubbing it along them, now feeling more like a failure than ever. He tried to remember what Lorelai had said.

Luke gave him a chance. He gave Jess a roof over his head, free meals, a place to sleep. A job. He was even willing to give him a raise. Luke wasn't even charging him rent even after Jess turned eighteen. He gave the guy space to come and go as he pleased. Jess made his own decisions. Those were his choices. But it didn't matter because it still felt like it was Luke's fault. That he was the one who let Jess fall through. Luke was only trying to help his nephew but instead pushed him away and into the arms of a man who ditched out the night his son was born. If only Luke had been honest with him. He believed in his nephew so much. Luke knew Jess was smart enough to pass high school, to go onto college. It was amazing how much Jess read in just one week. Luke knew he could do so much more if only Jess put forth the effort.

The few times a year, Luke had gone up to New York, to visit his sister and Jess, played in his mind. The actual gold stars the kid would get back in kindergarten and how happy he would be. It made Luke wish he had visited a lot more, and not been so socially awkward around children, especially his own nephew. Maybe then, Jess would have been more willing to finish high school and go on to college. Guilt set in even more, thinking how much more Luke wanted to make sure things would be different with his own kid when he couldn't even help his nephew.

Luke snapped out of his thoughts and stood up to rinse his cup out in the kitchen sink, leaving the cup there for now. He then decided to turn off the lights and call it a night since it was very late and he had to be up super early for the next week's delivery.

As he laid there, staring up at the dark ceiling, Shelby's report still lingered on his mind until he could no longer hold his eyelids open.

A couple weeks passed before Nicole called and they were able to discuss their final decision. It was probably best to divorce. They had rushed into a marriage without even much of a thought. Plus, Nicole never wanted an eloped marriage. Like Luke wanting his daughter there, she too wanted her parents and close friends there. Not to mention, neither one had even said they loved each other yet. It was a stupid mistake that they rushed into while not being clear headed.

Luke hadn't even felt inclined to share with anyone what had happened, too embarrassed of the shame. A few days after returning home, Sookie and Jackson had stopped by the diner for lunch and asked how the trip was. Luke couldn't get away any more faster the way he bolted without hardly a word.

When he was finally able to call and check in with Shelby, she too asked how his trip was and if he did end up proposing. All Luke managed to get out was, that it was good, that they saw a few shows, and went snorkeling, making sure to point out how much she would have liked snorkeling, telling Shelby about all of the fish they saw. Eventually, he knew he had to tell her something. All Luke told her, though, that he did end up asking Nicole to marry him.

"Really?" The tone in her voice and hearing how hopeful she sounded did not help matters much.

"Hold on," he stopped her before Shelby could jump for joy. "Before you start sharing, I want to talk to you about this. Okay?"

"So, don' tell anybody yet?"

"No, not yet. There is stuff I need to explain first and I don't really want to do this over the phone. I'd rather we talk in person. Okay?"

"Okay, Dad." The kid sounded so excited. It was going to be hard to break the news he and Nicole had already gotten married and were planning on getting divorced. Part of him hoped all of the excitement she was having over there, in Florida, would make Shelby forget all about it. The tough part about this whole mess was not having his little buddy there with him and having to spend nights alone. Since they were getting divorced, he and Nicole hadn't spent any time together, and all of the adults who Luke had as friends were all out of town. So, the poor guy was all alone.

During the first week of July, Rachel had stopped by the diner, having returned from her own trip. She thought Shelby would have been back by then because of her birthday.

"No, usually, they return, mid July, during the second week," Luke explained.

"Even though they had Shelby with them?" she questioned.

Luke had his ledger open in front of him, on the counter, going over the diner's finances for the last week. "They asked and made sure it was okay, and I made sure Shelby understood it would be for most of the summer. She was hesitant but she had missed her friends last summer and since she had already said she'd go, despite the reason, she still kept her promise." He returned to his work when Rachel hadn't said anything else.

She stared at the floor until she asked, "Has Shelby been calling you?"

He nodded. "Almost every night. Why?"

Rachel dropped her gaze onto the floor once more, holding onto her upper arms.

It was then Luke understood. "She hasn't called you."

She gave a slight shrug. "I don't blame her. I know things aren't that great between us right now." Her voice trailed off for a moment. "It's just…"

"What?"

"Nothing." Rachel shook her head.

Luke just returned his attention to his ledger, his pencil in hand. With so much on his mind at the moment, he wasn't about to insist on whatever Rachel was trying to say if she didn't want to tell him. A glint caught his eye and he stole a quick glance at her hand. There, on her ring finger, was a bright, gold ring. Luke quickly moved his gaze back towards his ledger before Rachel noticed he saw it.

Rachel decided to turn around and leave. "You'll let me know when she's home?"

"Yeah, yeah. Of course," he nodded, trying to play it cool he hadn't noticed the ring. She doesn't seem to suspect anything.

"Thanks, Luke." With that said, Rachel turned and left the diner. Luke watched as she made her way down the sidewalk while staring down in front of her. So, looks like Luke wasn't the only one who got hitched this summer. This must have been the reason for Rachel wanting to introduce Shelby to Roger. Did Rebecca know about this? Or, did Rachel keep this from the rest of her family? She never was the big, extravagant type, never even wanting to do birthday parties, much less a wedding. So, yeah, it made sense Rachel would run off and elope. But, still. The family still has a right to know.

Luke remained open on the Fourth of July, mostly getting a few tourists passing through, as most of the town were down at the lake for their annual town BBQ. He didn't even hear from Shelby until the next day, who filled him in on the fun day she had, had. The boys' grandparents threw a BBQ/pool party of their own since they had an inground pool.

"I never spent all day in the pool before," she told her dad, as if that was the most amazing thing she had ever done. "I had a hot dog and barbecued chicken, potato salad, and chips, and corn on the cob, and for desser', chocolate min' ice cream."

"Wow, that sounds like a lot of food." Luke was impressed the kid was able to eat all that. Shelby also told him about them going to a ballpark just to see the fireworks and getting to sit on the pitcher's mound. On a blanket, of course.

Of course, Luke called his little buddy again, the very next day so he could be able to wish her a happy birthday. After talking to Rachel, Luke had curiously asked Shelby about not calling her mother. She had gotten quiet until Shelby admitted she was nervous to call her mom. She did point out, why couldn't her mother call her like Luke did?

"That's a good point, kiddo." Luke planned on asking Rachel about that, but he hadn't seen her come by since she returned from her trip.

Finally, at long last, the day arrived when Shelby came home.

Luke was taking a customer's order when the family's minivan pulled up in front of the diner. As soon as Cheryl opened the side door, Shelby jumped out and dashed inside which Luke set his notepad down, on the table he was standing at, so he could scoop his little buddy up.

Was it him or has Shelby grown in the last month and a half?

Shelby squeezed her dad's neck as much as she could as Luke did the same.

"I have missed you so much, kiddo," he told her.

"I missed you too, Daddy."

Over a minute went by before Luke had to put Shelby down upon her request. Ron brought in her suitcase and backpack, along with her laundry bag, Luke had gotten her to put her dirty clothes in, instead of having to mix them in with her clean ones. She then hugged each of them, including the boys, thanking them for letting her spend the summer with their family and for everything else, especially Disney World. Cheryl also gave Luke, back Shelby's bank card. Since he rarely traveled, Luke actually ended up with a phone call from his bank that there was a purchase made in Florida while he was clear across the country, and had to approve it.

Exhausted from the plane trip and having to wake up early to catch said plane, Shelby took a nap for the next few hours. She was so tired, she ended up collapsing onto Jess' bunk without removing her shoes. That's when Luke realized she had grown a little over the summer. Shelby had mentioned while she was gone, they had to replace her shoes as they were starting to hurt her toes.

As she laid there, sleeping peacefully, Luke couldn't help stand there, watching her. His daughter was indeed growing up right before his very eyes and he couldn't help get choked up at the thought. Before he knew it, Luke would be walking her down the aisle and giving her away to the right guy. Though, he hoped Shelby would make better choices, he did not want that day to come anymore faster than it seems to be.

Shelby ended up sleeping until around four in the afternoon while Luke was up there working on financial stuff for the diner. She emerged, coming over to where he sat at the kitchen table, rubbing her eye with her fist. Coming around to his side, she grabbed onto his upper arm he was leaning on, hugging it to her and rested her chin.

Luke kissed her forehead that was visible in the space above her hat's plastic adjuster strip. "Hey, kiddo. Glad to have you home." He smiled at her.

She looked up at him with just her eyes. "I'm glad to be home," she also smiled. "Want to see everything I got at Disney World?"

"Sure."

Shelby hurried over to where her suitcase was still packed and unzipped it open. First, she pulled out a stuffed animal of Goofy, bringing him over. "I got a new 'tuffed animal."

"Goofy, huh?" Luke smiled, proud to know one of her cartoon characters well.

"I met him, too," she said. "We took a picture with him."

He nodded, "Cool."

Shelby set Goofy on the table and hurried back to bring out more that she had gotten there. The kid ended up filling her arms with more than one thing, bringing them over to set on the table beside Goofy. One was a Disney travel mug.

Holding up the travel mug towards him, she said, "This is what I got for Lor-lai. I wasn't sure what to get for her."

Luke took the travel mug to look it over, turning the mug around. It had a lot of the original Disney characters like Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Donald, and Goofy. "I'm sure she'll like it." He set it on the table in front of him.

"And I got Rory these pens." She handed him a package of pens with a different Disney character on each pen. "You know, for when she goes to college so that will be one thing she won' have to buy."

He took the pens from her to look those over. "That's very nice of you, Shell." Luke already knew Shelby wasn't looking forward to when Rory would leave for college and won't be around as much. It was sweet of the kid to still want to help out with her school supplies needs.

"Oh, yeah," Shelby hurried back to her suitcase and dug around until she pulled something out, quickly hiding it behind her back. "I got you something too."

"You didn't have to get me anything," Luke assured her. "Not when I have you"

"I know but I wanted to." She returned to where she had been standing at the table and pulled the gift from behind her back. "Here." In her hand was a black baseball cap. "When I saw it, I thought of you, Dad."

Luke took it. "Another hat, huh?" He looked at the character that was on the front. The dwarf from _Snow White and the Seven Dwarves_ who always looked mad was glaring back at him with his arms tightly folded. Above the character, it read, _Grumpy_.

Luke stared up at his daughter, confused. "This made you think of me?"

With a big smile on her face, she nodded. "Yep. Because you're both grumpy but deep down, you both care." It had been a long since he seen the movie so Luke wasn't sure if he remembered the character well, but what he did remember, the guy was pretty grumpy. Luke didn't think he was grumpy as the character always seemed to be.

"I want you to wear it, too," she added. "At least for a little bit. Please?" Shelby gave him a puppy dog look. How could he say no to that face?

"Okay, kiddo." Adjusting the back of the hat and bending the bill, Luke removed his blue one and placed his new hat on his head. Backwards, of course. While adjusting the hat, he noticed it had Grumpy's name above the hole. Only for his kid would he let that slide. "How do I look?"

Shelby held a thumb's up towards him. "Great." With that taken care of, she returned to showing everything she got for everyone. Unable to buy for everyone Shelby had planned on, on the count of Disney World's gift shop being expensive, she was only able to buy for only a select few.

"I got Mom something, too." She held a photo album upright on her lap that said, _Disney World 2003_ on the cover, along with Mickey and his friends. "I figured she could have another place to put her photos in," she shrugged. "I got Nicole something, too." She reached over and picked up what looked like a cup wrapped in paper.

His shoulders dropped at the mention of Nicole, reminding him, he still had to tell Shelby.

"I asked her when I went to spend the night at her apar'ment what Disney character she liked," she was saying as Shelby unwrapped the paper from it. "She said she was always fond of Tinkerbell so I got her a cup in the shape of Tinkerbell's head."

Luke had to force a smile. "That looks great," he said.

"I hope she likes it." She was now looking the cup over.

"I'm sure she would." Luke couldn't help go silent. He watched her for a moment before taking in a deep breath, letting it out. "Shell, we should probably talk."

Shelby looked up from the cup. "About getting married?"

A tightness crossed his chest.

She must have figured something was wrong because Shelby asked, "Something happened?"

Luke leaned forward, wiping a hand down his face. Letting out another breath of air, he searched around the table, trying to meet her eyes. He had to tell her.

Forcing himself to look the kid in the eye, Luke forced the words out. "Shell, Nicole and I…"

Her face suddenly dropped and a different kind of puppy dog look appeared. "The wedding is off, isn' it."

Luke swallowed back a lump. "The wedding already happened." Now the sad, puppy dog look switched to a puzzled look. "W-we… We got married on the ship."

"Oh."

Luke wasn't sure what to make of that response. "It just sort of happened. We weren't thinking straight. Remember when I told you, how adults drink too much they become what's called being drunk?"

She nodded. "You drank too much so you got married?"

He let out a third breath of air. "Yeah."

"You can do that? Get married that quick?"

"Apparently, the ship's captain is allowed to marry people," he shrugged.

"I thought a reverend could only marry people," she said, still confused.

"I guess ship captains can do it, now."

"So when is Nicole moving in with us?"

Luke had to look away. "Nicole won't be moving in with us," he told her, poking at his hand he held.

Her eyes grew at that. "We have to move?"

He shook his head.

The horrified look changed back to the puzzled one.

Taking yet another deep breath in and letting it out, Luke prepared himself to tell Shelby. It wasn't easy considering he and her mom had broken up not long after they had gotten back together, too.

"We're… Nicole and I…" Luke watched her for a moment. "We didn't mean to rush into a marriage without first being prepared. Neither one of us are ready for a commitment like this. So, we're…getting divorced."

"But Nicole will still be around…" This time, he caught her swallow. "Right?"

He hesitated before slowly shaking his head. "No, kiddo."

Shelby continued to stare at him. "Y-you…" Her voice was breaking. "You're breaking up?"

"I warned you this might happen, Shell. Dating isn't always guaranteed," he tried to remind her. Like that would even make this any better.

"But… You were thinking of proposing," she pointed out.

"I know I was, kiddo. But I didn't mean for it to turn out like this. I didn't want to rush Nicole into something like this."

Shelby wasn't letting up. "Can't you guys give it a try? You do like each other."

Luke had to shake his head. "We've already talked about this, Shell. We thought long and hard, and weighed the options. We feel this is for the best. The further we put this off, the harder it'll be, and with your mom being back, Nicole felt she'd be in the way of the two of you trying to work things out."

"She won' be in the way," she tried to insist.

Luke couldn't help smile at the kid's sweetness. The smile couldn't stay long. "It's for the best, kiddo. I'm really sorry."

"But why can't you try it? Things happen for a reason."

"Shell, this kind of stuff is complicated."

Shelby just stared at him. After a moment, she quickly hurried over where her shoes were, shoving her feet into them before heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Out," she replied, sounding like her cousin.

"You know I need more than that," Luke reminded her.

"I want to ride my scooter around," was all she said.

Letting her go, Luke reminded her to check in, in an hour. He then dropped his head, letting out one last breath of air once she was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Shelby was, for the most part, silent over the next few days. She still helped out in the diner since it was summer vacation and had more hours in a day. She still wanted to save up for the new GameBoy to finally be able to play her new _Pokemon_ game she had gotten a while back. Using a portion of her money in Florida put her back a way's, but it wasn't regretted, of course.

Luke let Rachel know that Shelby was home as he promised. However, Shelby wasn't up for even talking to her mom either. When she wasn't helping out in the diner, Shelby was upstairs playing video games, reading, or out riding her bike or scooter around town.

Rachel stopped by for a coffee after running into the kid heading in the direction of the lake. "Hey, uh, Luke," she said while handing him a dollar.

"Yeah?" He took the dollar from her and opened the register, taking out a quarter to drop in her hand.

She pocketed the quarter. "Have you considered replacing Shelby's bike?"

"What's wrong with the one she's got?" he questioned.

"Well, nothing," Rachel shrugged, "except for the fact her knees are reaching her handlebars."

Luke looked back at her, cornered. "They are?"

She nodded. "If you want, I'd be happy to pay for half and we can get her a new one since her birthday was a few days ago."

"I don't mind paying the full amount," he replied with a slight shrug.

"Sure, of course. I just figured I could chip in, too. Save you some money. I know how important a bike is to a kid, especially those active like Shelby."

"Okay, sure. I'll take Shelby, shopping in the next couple of days and will let you know when we find one."

"Or, I can take her," Rachel offered.

Luke hesitated but decided to compromise. "Whoever Shelby wants to take her, can."

"Well, we all know who she'll choose."

"And will be just fine," Luke made clear to Rachel.

Rachel breathed in, letting it out. "Whoever Shelby chooses is up to her, yes." He could see Rachel really was trying. Luke had to admit, it would be painful for a child to favor one parent over the other.

"By the way," he suddenly remembered. "If you were concerned about Shelby not calling you while she was in Florida." Luke gave another shrug, holding it for a bit longer. "Why didn't you just call her? I recall Cheryl giving both of us her cell number a long time ago. Don't you still have it?"

She pulled her phone out from her back pocket, using her thumb to flip it open. "I do," she replied, scrolling through her contacts. Rachel closed the phone and looked up at him. "I know Shelby likes having some control, so I just thought I would let her call when she was ready."

"Did you tell Shelby what you were doing?"

"Well, no, but I didn't think I needed to," she answered.

Luke rubbed at the back of his neck.

"Was she waiting for me to call her?" Rachel asked at that point.

"She said she was too nervous to call you," he admitted what Shelby had told him.

"Nervous? How come?"

Luke remained silent that time in hesitance. He wasn't sure whether or not to tell Rachel about what Shelby had confessed at the graduation. In fact, up until this point, Luke had been wondering if he should or not, or just wait until they could make an appointment.

Rachel must have sensed there was something on his mind because she pointed out the silence. "What is it?"

"Uh, nothing." He shook his head of the thought and picked up his notebook he took orders in, flipping through it.

She wasn't letting up. "There's something going on. Did Shelby say something?"

Luke fidgeted, reaching back to scratch an itch where the tag in his shirt was causing. "It's nothing," he continued to deny. "Besides, you know how she is with having a hard time being able to speak up for herself."

"Luke."

Finally, realizing Rachel wasn't going to let it go, he told her, "Look, I'd rather not say anything else until Shelby's old therapist is present. Okay?" At that, he returned his attention back to his notebook. Luke caught a glimpse of Rachel still watching him. "What?"

"Nothing. I just don't understand why you can't tell me now? Is it because I left? Was it something else I did? Or said?"

"Rachel, please, just drop it," he said with a sigh. "I've got work to do." Luke then headed into the back to grab another can of coffee to make another batch since the current batch was looking pretty low. He at least added, he was going to make the call within the next few days to set up the appointment. And with that, he walked away.

The following morning, Luke made the call to the family counseling office in Providence. It probably was better if they had gone to one here in Connecticut so they wouldn't have to drive two hours one way, but since the therapist would have already had a history with Shelby, and already knew each other to a certain extent, Luke was willing to spurge on the extra gas to make things easier for Shelby. Not to mention, Madison spoke very highly of this place and the therapist. He talked to and made the appointment with one of the office's secretaries for the following Tuesday, calling Rachel afterwards to let her know, and told her, she could hitch a ride with him and Shelby to save her the extra gas.

He also let Shelby know when she returned to the diner for lunch. "How does that sound, kiddo? Being able to get some help with your mom?" he asked afterwards.

Shelby was sitting at the counter, staring at nothing in particular.

"I'm still wearing the hat you got me," Luke pointed to his head, trying to cheer the kid up.

She glanced up at him and gave him a half smirk. It was gone in another second and her gaze was dropped once more.

His shoulders dropped. He didn't like seeing his little buddy upset. "What's wrong, kiddo? Talk to me? Is it…?" Luke looked around at the few customers before leaning his arms on the counter and lowered his voice so only Shelby could hear him. "I know how much you like Nicole, Shell, but neither one of us were ready for this. You gotta understand something like that can't be rushed."

Remaining silent, Shelby slid down from her stool and headed for upstairs.

It pained his heart to see her like this as Luke watched Shelby head around the counter and out of sight.

Sunday morning, Shelby left for church on her own. She at least informed him, she was going to be a little later than usual but didn't say why. Sometime around lunch, Reverend Skinner stopped by, requesting to speak with Luke.

"About?" Luke asked.

"Shelby came to talk to me this morning after the service," he explained. "Well, she pleaded I would talk you into it, but I told her I couldn't make you do anything. I just wanted to come by to see how you were doing, just as a friend."

He shrugged. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Shelby tells me...," the reverend began until Luke cut him off and had the older guy follow him out of earshot of everyone.

"Look, I understand everyone's concerned about me, but really, I'd rather not discuss any part of the matter. I screwed up and just want to get through this as quick as possible."

"And I respect that, but if you ever want to talk."

"Thanks but I got it."

Reverend Skinner placed a caring hand on Luke's shoulder before leaving.

Luke stopped him, getting the guy's attention once more. "I'd appreciate if you didn't mention this to anyone."

"No problem, Luke," he assured him, with an understanding smile. Before Reverend Skinner left, he suggested at least having a heart-to-heart with Shelby, then he was gone.

Luke stared at the floor in thought. What else was he supposed to say?

When he eventually returned from the back, Shelby was there, cleaning the tables for the next customers. Taking a deep breath, Luke went over there.

"Shell, can we talk upstairs? Please?"

Letting the current high school employee her dad hired for the summer take over, Shelby followed him upstairs. He had her take a seat on the couch, sitting with her.

Leaning his elbows on his knees, Luke told her, "Reverend Skinner came to see me just now. Something you want to tell me?"

She shrugged.

"Shelby," he tried to be firm with her.

"I just though' he would be able to help," she finally said.

"Shell, the decision's already been made. It may not be what you want but that's the way it is."

"But why can' you just give it a try?" Shelby asked.

"Because it doesn't work that way. Nicole and I rushed into, what is, a huge decision neither one of us were ready for."

Shelby looked the other way at nothing in particular.

Luke reached out to place a gentle hand on her shoulder but she nudged it away. "I'm sorry, Shell." He swallowed. "I know how hard it is for you to say good-bye. I'm sure you've had to say it more than any kid has had to. Nicole was great, and really cared about you. She said she would stop by when things were all taken care of to say good-bye to you, if you wanted."

Shelby wipe her eyes across her arm. She uttered something but Luke couldn't understand her, clearly.

"What, kiddo? I can't hear you."

She hesitated until Shelby was able to speak out loud. "You wouldn' try with Mom, you won' try with Lor-lai." Shelby looked up at him with those same matching eyes of theirs. "Now, you won' even try with Nicole?" The pleading look she gave made things even harder than they already were. Not only that, but Shelby had included Lorelai in all of this, thus confirming what Jess had mentioned. Shelby did think something was going on between the two friends.

"Shell…" he tried once more.

She interrupted him. "I know i's hard to try new things, but I do it. And you did say you were going to propose."

"I said I would think about proposing," he reminded her.

"And you did and she said yes."

"We were under the influence of alcohol. Alcohol can make a person do things we never thought we do."

"Alcohol can also make you do things you want to do, but not able to do it, sober."

Luke flinched his head back in surprise. How would Shelby know something like that? "Who told you drinking can make someone do something they can't do, sober?"

Shelby hesitated, going into herself as she fidgeted. She held her hands on the couch at her sides as she looked everywhere but at him. Trying once more, he reached over and wrapped a supportive arm around her shoulders, reassuring Shelby could tell him anything.

After a couple minutes, Shelby finally admitted she had been talking with Jess about about it, and asked him about what can happen to a person while drinking.

"He did say everybody is different," Shelby also admitted, her eyes searching around the floor. "I just…" She stopped there.

Luke looked downward for a moment. He lifted his head. "Shell, I know how much you want a mom. You should, no doubt, be able to have one. But this isn't a good enough reason for two people to be together. That's why I was hesitating taking Nicole on the cruise in the first place. I wasn't sure if this was the best time for that, especially with your mom being back and all."

Shelby wiped her eyes on her arms again.

"I know you liked Nicole. Believe me, she really liked you too. This has nothing to do with you. Everyone around us on the boat were just so much in love, celebrating anniversaries and what not, and the shows we saw were all pretty boring, that we just drank and drank until it sucked us in and by that point, we couldn't care less about anything. I probably would have wrote a five hundred dollar check to a homeless person to buy his own booze."

That time, Shelby looked up at him once more.

He shrugged. "It's the same reason that person who hit Bailey, got behind a wheel of a car. He just did not care. That's what alcohol can do to you. It can make you bold, stupid, or both. I mean, I can't stop you from drinking when you get to be drinking age, but what I can say is, just be responsible about it. Know your limit and if you do get to that point, do not get behind a wheel, or get in a car with somebody who has also been drinking. Even those who say they're fine can end up being wrong."

Shelby nodded. "I'm sorry, Dad."

Luke shook his head. "There's no reason to be sorry, kiddo. Like I said, I know how much you want a mom, and how much you liked Nicole. It's okay to hope things work out the way you want. It may not always happen, but just because I'm grumpy, doesn't mean you have to be."

A smile suddenly appeared which Shelby couldn't hide. Seeing the kid smile made him smile.

"I do have to ask, though," he quickly had to say with curiosity. She looked back up at him. "Out of all our friends here in town, why did you send Reverend Skinner to make me change my mind?"

Shelby picked at a loose piece of skin around her fingernail. "I thought… maybe… Reverend Skinner can teach you how God doesn' like when people break up." Her voice trailed off once more.

"I'm pretty sure God frowns on the whole 'drinking and jumping into a marriage' thing to begin with," Luke pointed out.

"Not the drinking part. Jesus drank wine and I heard that has alcohol too," she countered. "He probably knew his limi', though." There was a short pause before Shelby blurted out she had been desperate, in an adorable way that made him chuckle.

Luke hugged her head to him. "You are something, kid."

"Something, what?" she asked innocently.

"It's an expression. I mean, you make me laugh even when you're not trying to be funny," he explained.

"Oh."

As if it had suddenly dawned on him, Luke said, "And what do you mean I won't try with Lorelai? Try what? We're just friends, you know that."

At that point, the kid turned her whole body around to fully face him, folding her leg in towards her, on the couch. "Come on, Dad. We all know Lor-lai has a thing for you."

Luke scoffed. Or tried to. The scoff ended up getting caught on a stutter so it sounded more like a choked up cough. "I'm pretty sure I repulse her with my healthy eating habits and constant lectures of drinking the large amounts of coffee and junk food her and Rory consume on a regular basis." He folded his arms across his chest, dropping back against the couch.

Shelby just rolled her eyes. She then tossed herself beside him, but on her side so she was still facing him. "If you did, do you really think she would keep coming back?" Her right knee was pointed up as her foot hung off the edge.

Using it as an excuse to playfully smack her, Luke gave her foot a push off the couch, telling her to get it down. They figured if Shelby was having a hard time remembering at her mother's, Luke should probably start enforcing the rule at his place as well just to help her.

The two laughed at that. Finally, after such a long time, they were finally able to just sit and share a laugh or two, again.

"So," he eventually said, looking over at Shelby. "Guess it's just you and me again, kiddo." Luke and Shelby looked around the apartment.

Shelby was silent at first before admitting, "It feels weird."

He also had to admit, it sure did. The first time Jess had left, neither one really had time to let that sink in before the young man had returned. "You okay, kiddo?"

She gave a slight shrug. "I will be."

Looking forward at nothing in particular, Luke gave her upturned knee a gentle push with the outside part of his fist, in a playful manner. He stared ahead, now and then stealing a glance at her. "I can't believe how fast you're growing up."

"It feels slow to me," she replied, stealing a look at him.

Luke finally looked back at his little buddy, at that and smiled. "Usually how it goes." He forced another chuckle for her. It got another smile. "Ready to be a third grader?"

"Mr. Harris said we're going to be learning cursive in third grade."

"Cursive, huh? You can start practicing your autograph for when you become that famous singer we talked about." He smiled at that.

"Tha'll be cool," she replied.

They smiled once more before eventually looking away, letting things get quiet for a moment.

It was Shelby who broke the silence this time. "So, we're going to see my old therapis'?"

He looked over at her again. "Yep. Are you okay with that?"

She nodded. "I remember her being nice. We didn' do anything, though because I was 'till hiding then."

Luke placed a hand on her knee. "She can see how much you've grown over the last few years."

"She will probably be surprised."

"I bet she will, too. Heck, you surprise me and you live with me." He gave another chuckle. "In a good way."

Shelby smiled up at her dad. She then scooted closer and snuggled against him.

Luke wrapped his arm around her, holding his little buddy close. "Like I said, saying good-bye isn't easy. No matter what, though, I'll always be around, kiddo. As long as I am alive, I'll be here. That's one promise I know I can keep. I may make stupid mistakes, I will always love you, no matter what."

"I know," she replied. "I'll always love you too even when you mess up."

"No one's perfect. We're all learning as we go."

Holding onto his flannel shirt, Shelby added, "Life's a dance." They exchanged one last smile which Luke kissed the top of her head, over her baseball cap.

"Dad? Can I kick your butt at the baseball game, tonight?"

"Not if I kick yours, first," he teased, referring to the game the kid had for her Nintendo 64. The only game Luke was probably any good at, to be honest.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The morning of the first therapy session, Luke opened for a couple hours for the early birds but closed the diner during the time he and Shelby would be gone. He planned on being open later than usual that evening to make up for some of the time missed.

Rachel came by the diner around the time they had planned on leaving. "Hey, Peanut," she greeted Shelby, who was helping wipe down tables.

She stopped long enough to wave at her mom. "Hi."

Letting the kid work, Rachel gave her a kind smile and turned to Luke, who was going over the morning's earnings, his ledger open in front of him, on the counter. "Is there any coffee left?" she asked, curious.

He looked behind him at the coffee maker. "It's not fresh."

"It's fine."

Grabbing a to-go cup from underneath the counter, Luke poured what was left over from the pot. He also grabbed a lid, placing it on top before sliding it towards her. Since it wasn't fresh and would have been thrown out anyway, Luke assured Rachel, it was on the house.

With Caesar's help, the diner was cleaned up and ready for the evening. Making sure to lock up, Luke and Shelby, along with Rachel, headed over to where Luke was parked. Shelby climbed in on Rachel's side since Luke's was on the side with traffic, scooting over to the middle so Rachel could slide in.

The drive was long and hardly anyone spoke a word at first. For the most part, they just listened to the radio. A couple of Reba's songs played, including _The Night the Lights went out in Georgia_. Shelby had brought along her GameBoy Color to play her _Harry Potter_ game she had bought a while ago while singing along.

Rachel had asked if she could watch, which Shelby gave the okay. "What game are you playing?"

" _Harry Potter_ ," she replied. "I's played like _Pokemon_ but Harry figh's with magic instead and takes turns attacking with his friends."

"Who's Harry Potter?"

"He's a wizard and goes to school to learn how to use his magic. There's a bad wizard that killed his mom and dad when Harry was a baby. He tried to kill Harry, but because of his mom's love, he was able to survive with only a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. Harry had to go live with his mean uncle and aunt, and cousin, who all bully him and made him sleep in the cupboard under the stairs."

Rachel looked between Luke and Shelby. "And this is a kid-friendly game?" she asked with concern in her tone.

"I's a book and movie, too," she added, not looking up from her game as she battled a few monsters.

Rachel looked over at Luke as if requesting an explanation of some kind.

"It's PG," Luke assured her, glancing between Rachel and the road. "I've seen the movie with her, and heard Jess when he would read aloud to her. It's not that bad. Better than that _Star Wars_ stuff anyway."

Without looking up from her game, Shelby punched her dad in the leg. It hurt but not that much.

"Ow, what was that for?" he protested.

Shelby finally lifted her gaze towards him. "Just because you're a Trekkie, doesn' mean you can make fun of _Star Wars_ ," she told him off.

"Shell, where did you learn that word?" he asked, noticing Rachel snicker behind her hand.

"Lor-lai."

That made him roll his eyes. _Figures…_ "Just for that, tomorrow night, I am getting out the tapes and I am making you watch them with me," Luke informed her.

But she just shrugged. "Okay." It had been heartbreaking to learn his own flesh and blood rejected _Star Trek_ for _Star Wars_ when Luke tried introducing his favorite childhood show. At first it didn't seem so bad. Shelby wasn't into _Star Trek_ like he was, though. That was fine. But when the boys had introduced her to _Star Wars_ and she fell in love, that was it and he busted out the tapes once again to try and have Shelby give them a second chance. Though, she did admit the show was okay. If given a choice, the kid would pick _Star Wars_ and wants a Death Star Legos set after she's done saving up for her new GameBoy. In fact, Shelby plans on asking around town for odd jobs on the side of helping out in the diner. Hey, as long as she was out doing something instead of staying in the apartment all day, doing nothing but playing video games and watching TV, Luke was cool with that.

Rachel broke into his thoughts when Luke heard her tell Shelby, it wasn't nice to hit others.

"I wasn' trying to hur' Dad," Shelby pointed out.

"I know, but it's still not nice and I know your dad has gotten on you about something like that."

"But we mess around like that now. As long as I'm not doing it to be mean or really hur' him, Dad is okay with it."

Rachel looked to Luke.

"She's right," he assured.

Shelby looked over at Luke. "I didn' mean to make it hur', though, Dad. I'm sorry," she sincerely apologized.

Luke reached over and playfully grabbed at her knee, shaking it. "You're fine, kiddo. It didn't hurt that much. Just remember to watch your strength, next time."

"Okay," she nodded and went back to playing her game.

"Her and Jess used to mess around." Luke explained the reasoning for allowing Shelby to "beat" him up now.

Rachel nodded in understanding.

For the remainder of the drive, the adults tried to make small talk, which Shelby would chime in, now and then. Another of Reba's songs came on at one point and Rachel ended up hearing how Shelby had rewrote Reba's _I'm a Survivor_ song for Lorelai as she sang it while playing her game.

Watching from the corner of his eye, Luke could see it was hard on Rachel, hearing their daughter rewrite a song about somebody else. She was now staring out her window, watching the passing scenery while holding the side of her face in her hand she held on the door.

Eventually, Luke pulled into the parking lot of the building, parking in a corner at the end of the covered parking. Shelby got out on his side, trying to finish a battle so she could save it. He ended up lifting her out and setting Shelby on the rocks so he could close the door, and guided her towards the main door with a hand on top of her head. Somehow, the kid managed to make it without tripping or falling over anything.

Shelby managed to make it over to a chair in the waiting room while Luke headed over to the front desk. Rachel followed him.

"Uh, I'm Luke Dane. We're here to see Lauren Tisdale," he told the lady sitting behind the desk. She had him sign in on the sheet in front of him and got out some forms for him to fill out, before asking Rachel who she was there for.

"I'm with him," Rachel motioned a thumb towards Luke. "Do I need to sign in, too?"

"No, just one of you."

Luke took the forms over to where Shelby was sitting. Having finished the battle, she saved her game and turned it off and away in her pocket. Shelby was now searching through the magazines sitting on the table in front of them.

At one point, Luke happened to catch some movement out of the corner of his eye, glancing over to see Shelby had turned a magazine to the side to look at a picture. He looked over to see it was only a centerfold of just a sports car, catching himself sigh in relief under his breath.

Rachel offered to put down her insurance information when Luke reached the insurance portion of the forms. He put down his first before handing the clipboard over to her so she could write hers. When Luke took the forms back up to the front desk, both of them had to give the lady, their insurance cards to make copies and verify them.

It was another ten minutes before Lauren came out to fetch them. She was about the size of Madison, only with short, curly blond hair. When she saw Shelby, Lauren looked happily surprised.

"That can't be little Shelby Danes."

Shelby was holding her arms around Luke's arm.

Luke looked down to see her smiling.

"You grew!" Lauren laughed at that part. "How old are you now?"

She let go to hold up eight fingers using both hands.

"No way. You're eight? Can't be," she playfully teased.

Shelby nodded her head, enthusiastically.

"And it looks like you're doing so well, too," Lauren added. She looked up at him and Rachel. "We could barely get Shelby to come out of hiding."

"Well, credit goes to a friend of ours," Luke said modestly.

"Yes, Madison told me about the hat trick. I will say, though. I was surprised you were able to get custody so fast. Not even biological parents usually get their children that fast from foster care."

He shrugged. "It was a special circumstance since I wasn't notified in the first place. Plus, it helped that her court hearing was so close."

"I'm just glad everything worked out," she replied. "After her mentor left, I thought we just about lost her, as well."

Luke wrapped an arm around the kid's head. "We later found out the truth about what happened to Bailey." He then explained about receiving the letter and why Shelby had never heard from Bailey again.

Lauren gave the kid a sympathetic look. "I'm so sorry, kiddo. I know how much you loved Bailey."

Shelby gave her a thumb's up which Luke translated.

She then led the three down a hallway to her office where they sat at a round table. A desk was in one corner. On the other side of the room, was a shelf lined with board games, play dough, and long containers of crayons, markers, and little toys.

Before Lauren sat down, she grabbed a hand puppet made from felt of a girl and pulled it onto her left hand.

In a different voice, she said, "Hey, Shelby. Remember me? It's your old pal, Sally." The puppet even had pony tails coming out the sides of her head, made of yarn. "I've missed you so much."

Shelby waved at the puppet. Both of her parents smiled at her. Though, if Luke knew his kid, Shelby wasn't into the whole "using puppets" trick outside of _Sesame Street_.

"It's great to see you not hiding anymore," the puppet character continued. Lauren took a seat across from them, still wearing Sally on her hand.

Shelby held up another thumb's up, in politeness.

In her normal speaking voice, Lauren started the first session. "To start things off, why don't we go around and say a little about ourselves, and what we would like to eventually accomplish out of this." She pointed to Rachel, who was sitting the closest, on her left.

"Well, I'm Rachel, Shelby's mom," she pointed a hand towards Shelby. "I work in the photography and journalism field, getting to travel to places and share my experiences with others through magazines. I just got married to the greatest guy in the world, whom if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have gotten through the past year without him."

"That's wonderful to hear," Lauren told her. "Congratulations. Finding that right person and being able to make a lifetime commitment is very special."

She thanked the woman before looking over at Shelby. "As for what I'd like to accomplish, it would be wonderful to be able to patch things up with my little peanut." She quickly added, "if that's okay with Shelby."

While her mom was speaking, Shelby had pulled Totodile out from the pocket of her basketball shorts, holding the toy in her hands. She looked up at her mom, who gave her a kind smile.

"What about you, Shelby?" Lauren asked of the kid.

Even though Shelby knew the woman already, she still felt nervous to speak. They gave her a moment until Luke offered his ear and to say it for her.

While holding an arm around her, Luke gave her upper arm a comforting rub when he heard her goal for therapy.

"She, uh, says she wants to feel like she doesn't need to be perfect all the time," he said out loud for Shelby.

Sally spoke up that time. "Who makes you feel like you have to be perfect, Shelby?"

Luke gave her arm another comforting rub. She stole a glance over towards Rachel, who looked surprised.

"How do I make you feel like you have to be perfect, Peanut? I know you're not." Rachel held a gentle hand to her back.

Instead of answering, Shelby hid her face in her dad's side while still holding Totodile on the table.

For now, Lauren moved things along. "How about you, Luke?"

"Well, I'm Luke Danes, the father of Shelby," he started with, still holding his arm around the kid. "I run my own diner in our little town, that used to belong to my father. Before, it was a hardware store, but I wasn't into the hardware business as much as he was. So I turned it into a diner since I knew how to cook."

Luke paused to contemplate on what to share next. He wasn't really wanting to talk about his recent break-up/divorce so he just moved on to his goal. "As for what I'd like to get out of these sessions," he also looked at his little buddy. "Mostly, I want nothing more for my daughter to have a better relationship with her mom, and be able to come to some sort of compromise with Rachel when comes to our daughter, as well."

"Okay, well, all of these goals sounds pretty good and attainable," said Lauren. "However, nothing can be solved in one sitting. I need for everyone to want to be in this for the long haul, no matter how long that may take. Whether it's a couple months or a couple years. That sound good to you, guys?" She looked between the three of them.

Luke and Rachel exchanged looks, both nodding towards each other and Lauren.

"Whatever it takes, I'm willing," said Rachel.

"Yeah, me too," Luke agreed.

They turned to Shelby, making sure she was okay with however long things may take. She gave a slight nod towards the table.

"For today, though," Lauren stood up, leaving Sally on the table. She went over to pull a few games from the shelf, bring them over, along with a ziploc bag of index cards with stuff written on them. "We are going to play a game, of Shelby's choice, of course. Each time somebody takes their turn," Lauren opened the ziploc bag to pull out the cards, setting them towards the middle of the table, "they draw a card."

She drew the top card from the stack. "What is my favorite color?" Reaching for a few small whiteboards, which Luke helped push them closer for her, Lauren held one up. "Everyone else writes down what they think I would say. Sort of like a little ice breaker you would play on the first day of school," she explained for Shelby. "There are no wrong answers, or bad answers, nor are there any judgment of any kind from anyone. This is just something to start things off with." She made sure to include, "and it's okay if you don't know the answer. Just write what you think the answer might be. It's okay if it's not what you thought it was. This is just a warm-up to get things started."

Lauren looked between Luke, Shelby, and Rachel, making sure everyone understood.

Luke, being the closest, passed out the rest of the whiteboards to the girls, as well as the markers and erasers. In the meantime, Shelby picked out the game they were going to play. The choices were between Jenga, a game involving doing dental work on an alligator, and one where the players had to break the ice without letting the polar bear fall through. Shelby ended up choosing Jenga, being familiar with the game from playing over at Lorelai's.

They set up the tower, letting Shelby take the first turn. The tower was set up closer to her so she wouldn't have to reach that far, being the smallest of the group.

Tapping each wooden piece to test which one was the loosest, Shelby carefully pushed on one of the middle blocks on her mom's side, pulling it out on the other side when the piece was sticking out enough. She then set it carefully on top.

Rachel happily praised her. "Great job, peanut."

Shelby held a thumb's up towards her.

"Okay, now draw a card, Shelby," Lauren reminded her.

Luke scooted the stack closer to her and leaned over to read it out loud. "My favorite TV show is…"

"So, once Shelby has her answer, Mom and Dad, you have to write down what you think her favorite TV show could be," she reminded them of the rule.

It was a no-brainer. Holding the small whiteboard up on the table, Luke wrote down, _Pokemon_. Once both Rachel and Lauren had written their answers, Lauren had Shelby show hers before everyone else showed theirs.

Rachel also had written _Pokemon_ , looking relieved he had written the same answer while Lauren had written _Bear and the Big, Blue House_.

" _Bear and the Big, Blue House_ isn't your favorite TV show anymore?" she teased the kid, playfully.

Shelby held in a laugh, smirking at the woman. She continued to shake her head.

"Not sure if Madison, or Shelby herself, mentioned it, but Shelby was in love with that show." Lauren snickered. "You can catch her slipping to a closer hiding spot whenever it was on the TV."

"I've never heard of it," Rachel admitted.

"It's a Disney channel preschool show," she explained. "It's about this bear who lives in this big, blue house. He and his little friends would play games, sing songs, and tell stories. We've caught her singing along to Bear and his friend, Luna the moon at the end of every episode. Well, we never heard her, but her lips would be moving." She turned back to Shelby. "Right, kiddo?"

Shelby hid her now glowing red face into her dad's side again.

The gesture made Lauren chuckle. Thankfully, there was still a smile on the kid's face, so Luke knew she wasn't upset by the embarrassment.

Next, Luke took his turn, staring intently at the tower. He too tested a few pieces until finding one that was loose. Very carefully, he tapped on the piece with his finger and pulled it out from the other side before setting it back, on top. Luke then drew a card this time.

"My favorite thing to do is…" he read.

Shelby pushed her chair back so nobody could see her answer until it was time.

The girls each wrote an answer.

Luke looked over at his little buddy's first. The answer he had put down was going fishing, especially with Shelby there with him. Luke smiled when he saw she had also written down, going fishing.

"Right, kiddo," he told her.

Shelby leaned over to whisper in his ear. "I almos' put watch baseball."

"You did, huh?"

"Yeah, I figured as much since we used to go camping and fishing together," Rachel said, holding up hers. On her whiteboard, she had written camping/fishing.

"Going by the hat, I figured you were an avid sports watcher," Lauren shrugged, holding hers up.

"Oh, he is," Rachel agreed, "especially baseball." She grinned over at him.

"But fishing's always been more of a passion," he said. "It's what I do when I need to go clear my head, and now Shelby and I bond over it. We've had some great talks while fishing, huh, Shell?" Luke placed a hand on top of her head, moving her hat around.

Shelby nodded up at him from underneath his hand.

Lauren went next, testing a couple. For the next turn, everyone pretty much took from the middle to start off with. She drew her card next, letting everyone guess before Rachel took her turn. After pulling out her chosen piece, she drew the next card.

"My favorite subject in school is, or was, actually…"

"Everyone can guess what subject they think you liked in school." Lauren directed her attention towards Shelby, "maybe you'll learn the two of you like the same subject," she said, encouragingly.

Shelby looked from Lauren to Rachel before dropping her gaze towards her whiteboard to think on a guess.

Luke had to dig into his childhood memory bank to remember whether or not he had known her favorite subject or not. Sure, they were friends to a certain degree. They weren't that close. At least, not as kids. It was mostly because Rachel was the only sane person at that school, despite not dating until after they graduated. Aside from sports, Luke mostly focused on his father's hardware store and school, and maybe a couple girls he may or may not have made out with under the bleachers.

He did remember sharing a few classes with Rachel. Of course, thinking back to his high school days reminded him of dropping out during his senior year when his father got sick and had to take over the store for him. Maybe that's why he was so intent on making sure Jess went to school and graduated. Because he was never able to graduate.

Luke was so deep in thought he barely heard Lauren calling his name. It took Shelby tapping him on the arm, causing him to jump out of his skin. He looked around at everyone else staring at him.

"Huh?"

"I was asking if you had your answer," Lauren told him.

"Oh, uh…" Luke looked down at his blank whiteboard. He quickly just wrote down math, the only subject that came to mind. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Okay, well then, Rachel, show us what you put down," she turned to Rachel, who flipped her whiteboard to show the group.

"Back, when I was in school, I really liked P.E." Well, that guess was way off. Made sense since Rachel liked being on the move and wanting to do things outdoors.

Luke glanced over to see a disappointed frown on Shelby's face as she stared at her whiteboard.

"What did you put down, Shelby?" Lauren asked her.

Shelby gripped the edges with her fingers.

"It's okay, kiddo. There's no bad answer or judgment. It's just your interpretation," she reassured.

Rachel made sure to reassure Shelby, as well. "I won't be mad if you put something different, Peanut."

Still a little hesitant, Shelby slowly turned her whiteboard around to show the group her answer which said, _Art_.

Rachel smiled. "That's still a good answer. Did you think of art because I am a photographer, and we would do those art projects together?"

She nodded.

"I took into account you said you were in the journalism field, so I said english." Lauren held hers up to show everyone.

"I had to take several english classes all through high school and college, but I always felt more confident being able to tell a story through pictures, you know? A more visual approach than telling a story through words. Like when our teachers used to tell us with our writing: show, don't tell. I pretty much took that to heart and live by that with the photos I take," Rachel explained.

Lauren nodded, her eyebrows raised as if that was the most philosophical thing she heard of. "Interesting way of thinking. I bet you got a good eye."

She nodded. "I've been told that. My husband is actually the writer. With his words and my photos, they really compliment each other well."

"Well then, I'd like to see some of your work."

"I'll bring some magazines in, some time."

"Sounds great." Last but certainly not least, Lauren turned her head over to look at Luke. "What did you put as Rachel's favorite subject in school, Luke?"

"Uh," he looked down at what he had written and turned it around. "Pretty sure it's not even close to what anyone else put."

"Math?" Rachel stared at his answer like it was the most absurd answer Luke could have given.

"Yeah, you were always taking all those math courses in school, right?"

She snickered. "Yes, but it didn't mean I enjoyed them. If anything, you were the better math whiz than I was."

It was coming back to him. Shelby and Lauren's answers did make more sense than his did. "Oh yeah, right," he said, still a little scattered. Luke noticed Lauren was looking on with concern.

"Everything alright, Luke?' she asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Why?"

"You seem kind of spaced out."

He shook his head. "I just remembered something that has to do with work. Nothing major."

Lauren didn't look convinced. "It must be major if it's got this much of your attention. Is there anything you need to talk about? We can talk one on one towards the end, if you need to."

"No, there's no need for that," he continued to deny.

"Luke's a mule," said Rachel, sitting back in her chair with one leg crossed over the other and her arms crossed. The whiteboard was leaning on her top leg "Getting him to talk about anything is like trying to push a stubborn mule through a barn door."

Luke shot her an annoyed look while he heard Lauren say, "Well, we have plenty of time to say what's on our minds. Maybe in time," she turned back to him, "you will feel comfortable enough to speak." Lauren gave him a kind smile, which he humbly returned.

"So, shall we continue?" Lauren gave Shelby the okay to take her next turn as they got back to the game.

Luke was relieved they dropped it and moved on. For the rest of the game, he tried his best to keep his head in the game. As things progressed, Shelby became more and more relaxed. That was pretty much all they did for the first session. Next time, though, Lauren promised the questions would be lot more deep than just favorite things.

As Lauren said, this was only a start.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Just wanted to mention, Lauren is going to be a new recurring character from here on out, through not only season four but when we get to season five as well. As a reminder, this story stops following the series somewhere around season six when April comes in as she and her mom does not exist in this story. Shelby is Luke's only kid. I can't thank those enough who are sticking through this with me and are still reading! You are all awesome! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

On the drive home, Luke and Rachel made small talk, agreeing the first session went fairly well. Shelby agreed when Rachel asked how she felt about it. Luke could see something was on the little girl's mind. For one, she was quiet, and two, she wasn't playing her GameBoy. Shelby was just staring at nothing in particular.

Luke eventually reached over and playfully grabbed her knee.

Shelby looked up at him which he gave a sideways glance and smiled for her. Of course Rachel didn't think much of it because she was usually quiet around her mom. Though, Shelby wasn't the only one who seemed to have something on her mind.

He didn't know her quite as well as he knew his little buddy, Luke knew Rachel enough to know when she wanted to voice her opinion and wanted to ask Shelby more on why she felt she had to be perfect in her mom's eyes.

The three of them just sat there as the radio played.

After a while, Shelby's head perked up suddenly and turned to pat her dad on the arm.

Glancing out the corner of his eye, Luke said, "Yeah, kiddo?" while keeping his eyes on the road ahead as he leaned a ear towards her.

Shelby reached her neck up the rest of the way, pushing herself up with her hands as far as the lap seat belt would allow. "We could have visi'ed Aun' Becca," she whispered.

"Well, we could make plans with her, some time this week and meet up for lunch next week," he suggested. "How's that sound?"

She nodded with a smile.

"Meet who for lunch?" Rachel asked, looking over at them from the window.

Luke was the one to reply. "Rebecca. Shelby made a point we could have visited her and her family while we were in Providence."

"Oh." Rachel nodded, turning back the window.

He quickly switched between the road and Rachel. "So, we came up with maybe meeting for lunch next week."

She turned back at that. "Oh, uh, yeah. Yeah, that does sound like a plan." Rachel gave Shelby an encouraging smile.

Shelby gave one right back but it seemed forced as it vanished right afterwards. "Does…" she started to say.

"Does, what, peanut?" Rachel urged their daughter to continue.

Shelby dropped her gaze towards her lap, fidgeting with her hands in her lap. Luke wrapped his arm around her, rubbing a hand along her upper arm. "Does Aun' Becca know?"

"Know, what? That I came back?"

She shook her head, still looking down at her lap. There was a long pause as Shelby tried to get the words out. Luke gently scratched his fingers repeatedly along her bare, upper arm.

"Th-that you got married." Shelby tried to match her mom's gaze but failed and dropped it back towards her lap.

Rachel looked away as well for a moment. "No, peanut. Not yet. I was gone almost as long as you were, and with everything else, I've haven't had the chance to tell Aunt Becca or your grandparents."

Shelby sat there for a moment before pulling out her GameBoy from her shorts pocket, and started fingering the buttons as she stared at the handheld, occasionally smashing them in with her thumbs.

"I wanted to tell you first," she admitted. "That's why I wanted you to meet Roger. But then your dad suggested on waiting until after you got back. We had this planned for a few months now since he proposed."

Shelby traced the tips of her fingers along the small letter indents on the A and B buttons.

"Roger is a great guy, peanut. He's can't wait to meet you and get to know you. I've already told him all about ya." Rachel smiled brightly at that last part. "We're in the process of buying a house over in Woodbury. I think you might like it. We made sure you had your own room whenever you decide to come over. It doesn't even have to be every weekend, or every other weekend. Whenever you decide you want to come over."

Finally, Shelby was able to look up at her mom. "Why not in 'tars Hollow?"

"We tried to find a house we liked in Stars Hollow, but there weren't any we could find. It's a little far, yes, but the area's great with lots of friendly neighbors. We have a huge yard and a driveway. Roger says he can either put up a basketball hoop above the garage or get one of those stand alone ones, and the two of you can play each other."

Shelby shrugged one shoulder. "That sounds cool, I guess," she said softly.

"I would let you meet him before coming over and get to know one another first," Rachel assured her. "Like, maybe during the whole move-in process. I still have your bed and desk, and everything. And your uncle can paint your new room the way your old room was, if you want. Or he can paint it something else."

She stared back down at her GameBoy as if to think on it. Shelby eventually lifted her head to say, "we'll see," and looked back down again.

Luke couldn't help find it amusing Shelby used the response he normally used for her. Though, he tried his best to keep his composure and not laugh. Not even a snicker. A slight smirk may have fought its way through where the girls couldn't catch it.

"Can I bring Roger by the diner, tomorrow to meet you? Is that okay, peanut?" Rachel asked this time.

"Sure," she replied with another one shoulder shrug.

Rachel looked over at Luke. "That okay with you, Luke?"

"Sure. If Shelby's up for it, it's fine by me," he also shrugged.

"Okay, well," Rachel turned back to their daughter, "we will stop by around ten-thirty. That sound like a plan?"

Shelby nodded that time.

Rachel tried to make more small talk with their daughter, pointing out how well Shelby was doing with her speech sounds. Luke couldn't help smirk a little when Shelby told her it had been Jess who had been mostly working with her at home and Rachel seemed taken aback in surprise.

"Oh, that was nice of him," she managed to say while trying to sound positive.

"Yeah, if you get to know him, you see Jess is nice," Shelby timidly told her mom, now fiddling with the back door that holds the batteries inside. "Everybody makes mi'takes."

"That they do, peanut. You are absolutely right." Rachel looked away and stared towards the floorboards.

Luke pulled up to the diner a quarter after four, that afternoon. He and Shelby said good-bye to Rachel before heading inside. Having grabbed lunch before leaving Providence, Shelby headed for upstairs. She helped downstairs later that evening, including with closing up.

As they were winding down to go to sleep, Shelby came over to her dad's side, dropping beside him on the bed as he was folding laundry, and grabbed a shirt out, to help him.

It was Luke who broke the silence. "So, what did you think? About the first session, I mean?" he asked, folding a pair of his jeans.

Shelby had reached for a hanger and slipped it into the neck of one of her T-shirts. "It was okay. I liked playing Jenga. I wished it didn' fell on me, though."

"Hey, I thought for sure I would be the one to knock it down." Luke nudged his elbow towards her in a teasing manner, chuckling.

"How? You were the mos' cautious," Shelby teased right back.

"It pays off sometimes to be extra cautious," he pointed out. The two continued folding laundry, together and teasing each other. For a moment, things grew quiet until Shelby broke it this time.

"Dad."

"Yeah?" Luke was folding a pair of Shelby's shorts.

"Did you know about Mom ge'ting married?" she asked.

Luke didn't say anything right away. He folded the pair of shorts one last time to set on the pile with the rest of her shorts. "She didn't actually tell me. I noticed after your mom had returned from her trip, she was wearing a wedding ring."

"How come she waited to say something in therapy?" Shelby folded her own underwear a few times before placing it on the pile with the rest of them.

"I'm not really sure, to be honest. I guess, maybe, she was waiting for the right time to tell you and just got caught up in the moment when Lauren was having us tell about ourselves." Luke was now folding all of the socks he had gathered into another pile.

With everything else folded, Shelby turned halfway around to fold socks, too, sitting cross-legged. "Does Mom know you got married?"

"Uh, no." He let out a breath of air as he folded a match. "No, I, uh, been keeping things quiet from everyone else."

"Oh, okay," she nodded. "I haven't told anyone else, either. Besides Reverend Skinner, anyway."

"I was going to say, uh, anyone?" The two laughed at that.

When things quieted down, Shelby pointed out, "You know Lor-lai is gonna ask, right?"

"Yes, I'm sure she will," he replied, searching for another sock's mate at the moment. Luke held up one finger, "but I will remain firm. She doesn't need to know everything. I don't need to tell her because it doesn't involve her. The only ones that need to know are me and Nicole." He made sure to add, "and you, of course. But that's it."

Luke eventually found the match and folded it with the other. He noticed a scoffing smirk on the kid's face. "What?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. Nothing at all, Dad."

"No, spill it. What is so funny?"

Shelby looked up at him with a unconvinced smirk. "Lor-lai always ge's you to do what she wan's," she said.

"Does not," he told her, folding a pair of Shelby's socks.

"Okay, Dad. Wha'ever you say," she shrugged in a knowing tone.

Luke couldn't help take notice of his little buddy's change in attitude. "When did you get cocky all of a sudden?"

"I don' know," Shelby innocently shrugged.

He chuckled at the kid. Reaching over, Luke pecked her on the forehead.

They finished folding socks before taking each of their clothes over to their respective dressers. While Shelby was over there, she dropped a cricket into Gexie's tank. Afterwards, she returned over to her dad's side.

"Dad, are we going camping before school star's?" She leaned a knee on the bed.

Luke had tossed back the covers and was fixing to go to sleep, sitting up in front of his pillow. He smiled at his little buddy's request. "Sure, of course we can. In fact," he poked a finger at her stomach which she flinched from, snickering at it, with his head tilted the other way, "how about we go this weekend? How does that sound?"

Shelby perked up at that, now excited. "Yeah, can we?"

"You bet, kiddo."

She jumped on him, hugging Luke around the neck. He squeezed her in return, rubbing a hand along her side, rough but gentle, and kissed the side her head. Shelby lifted her head to kiss his cheek before letting go. Exchanging I love yous and good nights, Shelby headed back to her side and climbed up to her bunk.

The next morning, Luke woke at his usual early time, shutting the alarm off. He got up and got dressed. Shortly after, Shelby woke up, too. Since they were both up, Luke fixed breakfast for the two of them, eating together until it was time to go open the diner.

Shelby placed all the chairs down from the tables while Luke started the coffee. Soon, it was six o'clock and the diner was open for breakfast. Shelby helped bring the customers, their food, receiving the most tips than Luke or any of his employees, with her adorableness, not letting anyone go unnoticed if they needed something.

For the ones she knew, Shelby was able to speak to them. For the customers passing through, she used a spare notepad of her dad's, to communicate. Shelby even took a few orders to bring to either her dad or Caesar, who still had some growing to do on the kid.

Before they knew it, it was ten-thirty. Rachel and Roger came by just as she had promised they would, greeting Luke first as Shelby was bringing two plates over to a couple.

Roger already started in. "You make your daughter work, already?"

Rachel elbowed him, hard in the stomach.

"Actually, it's her choice," Luke corrected. "She wanted an allowance so we made a deal. Technically, she's supposed to be sweeping and restocking napkins and salt shakers, but she likes serving the customers, too. Makes better tips than I do."

Rachel smiled at that. "I can see that," she agreed with a nod.

At that moment, they heard Shelby tell the couple, to enjoy their food before coming over.

"Hey, peanut," Rachel greeted their daughter, cheerfully.

Shelby waved back, stopping beside her dad.

"Shelby, I'd like you to meet Roger, here." She turned towards him, "Roger, this is Shelby."

Roger held his hand out for her. "Pleased to meet ya, Shelby," he greeted with a kind smile.

Shelby shyly held her hand out to accept the handshake.

"I hear you like to play video games. I own a PlayStation 2, myself. Ever play one?" Roger asked.

Shelby nodded. She looked up at Luke, motioning for his ear and asked if he could say she played over at the boys' house. Ethan and Alan's older brother owned a PlayStation 2 as well. Having two consoles already was one of the reasons Cheryl didn't want to get the boys a GameCube, not seeing the point in owning three different consoles, plus three handhelds.

Luke passed the message on to Roger.

"Maybe you and I can play each other when you come over," he suggested.

Shelby looked up at her dad again.

"Up to you, kiddo," Luke reassured her.

Looking back at Roger, she gave him a timid shrug.

"We'll let the two of you get to know each other first, don't worry, peanut," Rachel also reassured her. "Okay?"

Shelby nodded.

"I also hear you like to play basketball." Roger pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, "how about going to the park right now? If you're up for it, that is," he made sure to add.

She looked up at her dad once more.

"You don't have to, kiddo," Luke told her.

"I'll be there too, peanut," Rachel encouraged. "If that helps."

Shelby looked over at her mom.

There was some silence that soon followed as the adults let the kid think on it.

"I'd really like if we could spend some time together. Even if it's only for a couple hours. And maybe we could get lunch at Antonioli's."

Giving it some more thought first, Shelby ended up nodding her head and headed upstairs to grab her ball.

While they waited, Roger held a hand out towards Luke, who eyed it, suspiciously.

"Just wanted to apologize for how I acted when we met. I'm not a real big fan of those parents who keep their kids away from the other parent."

Luke cautiously accepted the handshake. "Oookay."

"Can't say I like you, though. But I don't want to jeopardize Rachel being able to see Shelby, on my account or anything. So, if things are cool between the two of you, I guess they're cool with us."

"Uh, thanks, I guess." Really, Luke didn't need whether or not Roger was "cool" with their situation or not, considering he had no part in this. Still though, at least he was apologizing. Didn't mean Luke was "cool" with him, yet, especially around their daughter.

"I just care about Rachel, very much, and having to see the one you care so much about, hurting, isn't easy, you know," he explained. "Still, I will stay out of it from now on." Roger held his hands up, ducking his head sideways.

As a father, Luke could understand how that feels. Feeling heartbroken in any kind of relationship felt awful. Admittingly, he'd probably do the same for Shelby or anyone else he cared deeply for. After all, Luke did have a tendency of becoming overly protective of others.

"I get it," he shrugged. "I'd probably do the same if someone hurt my daughter."

Roger agreed. Neither he or Rachel had any plans to have any kids of their own. Not that they would deny a child if it would come to it, but Shelby was enough in their book, especially when Rachel was struggling as a mom as it is. She didn't want to bring another child into this and make things harder on not just herself but Shelby, as well.

Shelby returned with her basketball at that point, interrupting the adults' conversation. Kissing her dad, good-bye, she left with her mom and Roger.

Luke walked them out, reminding Rachel not to bring up anything or make Shelby talk about anything she didn't want to talk about. Rachel promised she wouldn't before heading around to her side of her SUV. He waved just as she pulled away from the curb and headed in the direction of the park.

He couldn't help feel nervous whenever his little girl was out of his sight, even now when she's eight. Does this ever get any easier?


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A camping trip with his little buddy was just the ticket Luke needed after the stressful chaos that has happened the last few months. He and Shelby left, early Friday morning, closing down the diner for the weekend, and returned Monday afternoon just in time for the dinner rush.

During the early morning hours, they took a hike through nature, enjoying the scenery and each other's company before heading back and sitting beside the lake. Saturday and Sunday, Shelby wanted to swim, finding a good sized boulder to jump off of where the lake was deep enough. Though, Luke still cringed as if she would fall or hit her head on something. Thankfully, that was not the case.

Besides hiking, fishing, and swimming, the two squeezed in time to play catch. Luke made a mental note to sign Shelby up for little league when they got home since she still wanted to play baseball in the fall. Shelby was most excited little league would be keeping score this time unlike T-ball, and would even have assigned positions instead of being scattered out in the field.

Luke worked on making sure Shelby knew every position and helped show which position would be ideal for her so she wouldn't be stressed too much on which position the coach would assign to her. He tossed the ball in different directions, getting Shelby to move her feet and be ready for anything that would happen in a game, too.

To be honest, before becoming a father and meeting his daughter, Luke never thought a girl could hold her own against a bunch of boys. One would even call Luke, old fashioned in the way boys and girls behaved. But after seeing Shelby on both her basketball teams where most of the other players were boys, she proved him wrong and he couldn't have been any more proud. The only thing that was keeping Shelby from doing well was her low self esteem. Now that she lived with two guys who, not only watched out for her, but taught her well, Luke had faith this kid could do anything she sets her mind to, even with a bunch of boys.

Luke hardly paused between catches, either. As soon as he caught the ball, he would toss or roll the ball back to Shelby while switching directions. He made sure not to hold the same pattern twice, and let her guess where the ball would be coming from, next.

Like all of their camping trips, though, this one went by faster than they would have liked. Though, what made Shelby happy was knowing Lorelai and Rory would have already been back by now from their trip, according to Babette, who was given an itinerary from Rory. Unfortunately, the girls had not gotten home yet, not only making the woman go into panic mode, but Shelby, as well. Thankfully, Shelby had her dad to help calm her down.

"I'm sure they're fine. Probably got caught up looking at the sights or something," he reassured her. It didn't completely calm her down, but it helped for the most part and the kid just made sure to include in her prayers that Luke was right and the girls were safe and sound, and would be home soon.

Week two of the family therapy sessions arrived the morning after Luke and Shelby returned from their trip. Like before, Rachel rode with them in Luke's truck and let Shelby tell all about their camping trip.

For the second session, Lauren continued with the same game, only this time, Shelby chose the "Don't Break the Ice" game. Same rules applied, letting Shelby take her turn first. Keeping as far away from the red polar bear figure as possible, she tapped on the hard plastic ice cube until it fell through and drew her card, reading it first before handing the card to her dad for him to read.

Luke took the index card from her and read, "The person who makes me laugh the most is…?"

"Okay, so, Mom and Dad, write down who you think makes Shelby laugh the most. It doesn't have to be in the family. It could be a friend, a neighbor, a pet. Anyone that makes Shelby laugh." Lauren explained. This time, she was sitting back and observing instead of playing along.

Luke thought back to the kid's hero report, remembering Shelby mentioned how much he made her laugh and so he wrote down _Dad_.

Once all three of them had an answer, Shelby held her whiteboard up first. She too had put him, down.

He and Rachel held theirs up, next.

Looking between them, Lauren said, "Looks like Dad has it."

Luke looked at her board to see she had written Lorelai's name.

"I thought for sure you would say Lorelai," Rachel told Shelby.

Shelby shook her head and leaned over to whisper something to her mom.

"Oh, okay. Lorelai still makes you laugh, just not as much as your dad does," she nodded.

"Who is Lorelai?" asked Lauren, curious.

"She's a friend," Luke quickly answered before anyone else could say anything. "I've known her and her own daughter since her daughter was eleven. They come by the diner almost every day and has helped us with Shelby on several occasions."

Lauren nodded, making a note.

Rachel took her turn next, knocking out another ice cube, away from where Shelby's, and drew her question. "The person who makes me feel the most frustrated is…?"

"So, Dad and Shelby, write down who you think frustrates Mom more," Lauren told them.

Luke thought long and hard. He thought about himself again, but he also couldn't help think of her father, as well. Sure, they had quite a few disagreements, especially since Rachel first came back, but they've also been able to agree on a lot of stuff. Luke couldn't think of a time where Lloyd wasn't frustrating his daughter. But would Rachel feel the same way? This was depended on her answer, after all. To her, he may be the most frustrating to deal with. This was a hard decision.

Rachel and Shelby finished before he did.

Rachel of course showed hers first, showing she had indeed wrote him, down. "Sorry, Luke," she shrugged causally and turned towards Lauren. "I know I screwed up and I don't have any legal standing when it comes to our daughter anymore. But it feels like he holds onto that, even though he says he's let go, and uses it whenever I try and make a suggestion or share my side of a situation. Like letting his nephew continue to live with him after he caused a car accident with Lorelai's daughter."

Luke curled his fingers tight around the edges of his whiteboard, gripping it.

Lauren was making another note.

Suddenly, it was Shelby who blurted out, "It wasn' Jess' faul'!"

The outburst took the adults by surprise.

"Peanut, I know you feel your cousin wasn't at fault, but you don't understand. Besides, I was just using it as an example."

At that, Shelby slammed her whiteboard on the table and aggressively pushed out her chair before hurrying out of the room.

Luke turned back to explain, "Shelby is very close with her cousin."

Lauren nodded in understanding before making another note.

Letting the women know he would go get her, Luke headed after Shelby, finding her out in the waiting room. She was sitting in one of the chairs with her knees up and her arms tightly folded between them and her chest.

"Hey, kiddo. You okay?" He sat down in the chair beside hers.

She shook her head, staring at the dull grey carpet in between her knees. One could tell it was old and beat up by the scattered loose thread.

"What your mom said in there was wrong," he said. "We both know Jess didn't cause it and all of us have moved passed it. Okay?"

That time, Shelby nodded a little.

Luke glanced down at the carpet, himself. "This is why we're here getting help. So we can all be on the same page and move on from what happened in the past, especially your mom."

Shelby just stared at the carpet.

Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Luke kissed the side of her head.

"None of this will be easy, for all of us. Trust me, I don't like therapy," he inputted. "But if it helps us work together as a team with your mom, I'll take it. Only for you, though." Luke gave her an encouraging smile.

She managed to smile back at him before standing to her feet and hugged him.

Luke rubbed a comforting hand along her back as he held his arms around her. After a minute, he let go to look at her. "You ready to head back in and finish this?"

Shelby nodded.

Though, she willingly went back inside, Shelby pulled another chair up to the table and sat on the other side of her dad, asking if he could pass her whiteboard, marker, and hammer.

"Everything okay now, Shelby?" Lauren was the one to ask, gently, when they were situated again.

Shelby nodded, erasing her board with her hand which Luke tried to offer her the rag Lauren had provided for them to use so they wouldn't have to use their hand. Shelby had already finished, though. He just tossed the rag onto the table.

"I saw you had written yourself. Would you like to share anything about why you chose yourself?"

She shook her head, looking towards her whiteboard.

Rachel spoke up. "You don't have to worry, peanut. You don't frustrate me," she tried to reassure her.

Shelby didn't respond at all.

Even though Shelby had switched sides with her dad, they let Luke take his turn since he hadn't gone yet.

Testing one first, Luke tapped a second piece that easily fell through. He then drew a card. "The feeling you would like to feel less of is…?"

"Okay, so now Mom and Shelby, write down the feeling you think Dad doesn't want to feel anymore," Lauren explained for Shelby.

Luke thought about it and knew he did not want to feel heartbroken every time his little buddy had her heart broken. So he put _heartbroken_. Though, he did not want to be angry or annoyed anymore whenever Taylor was being Taylor, or Kirk was being Kirk, or Lorelai was annoying the crap out of him, Luke would take all of that as long as Shelby wasn't having her heart broken. Funny thing was, both Rachel and Shelby had chosen the latter. Rachel had wrote down being angry while Shelby wrote, _being anoyed by Taylor, Kirk, and Lorelai_. Did this kid know him or what? They also had to explain who Taylor and Kirk was.

It was Shelby's turn again. The second ice cube she knocked down, ended up taking down the one beside it. Lauren moved the card pile over to her so she could draw another. Shelby read it before passing it to Luke.

"The person who makes me feel special is…?"

"So, now, Mom and Dad writes who they think makes Shelby feel special," Lauren said.

He wasn't trying to be full of himself or anything, but Luke figured Shelby would choose him because he was always looking out for him. However, when it came time to show answers, Shelby had put down Jess instead. It made sense since Jess was usually willing to do things for his cousin even when he didn't want to and it again brought his mind back to the hero report she had written on her cousin. Rachel had also assumed it would be him, too, but only because they were a lot closer than she and Shelby were. Shelby at least assured them, Luke was a close second.

On Rachel's next turn, a few more ice cubes fell, making things harder for when Luke takes his turn. "I am happy when the family…?" she read off the card she had drawn.

Another question Luke had a hard time thinking of an answer. Truth be told, he thought of some sarcastic answers to put but that probably wouldn't have been appropriate. He did happen to look over and notice Shelby seemed to be having a tough time deciding on what to write. Though, after a minute, Shelby ended up coming up with something.

When Lauren asked if everyone was ready, Luke just wrote down _when we can agree_. That seemed logical.

Lauren let Rachel go first, of course. She turned her whiteboard around and held it in front her. "I put when we're working as a team."

"Okay, good." Lauren looked over at Luke. "What about you, Dad?"

"Honestly, I put something similar to that." He turned his whiteboard around.

"Well, when you're working as a team, that means everyone is in agreement." Lauren looked over at Shelby once she complimented him.

Luke noticed Rachel give him a smile as if to say thank you.

"What about you think, Shelby? What's something the family does that makes Mom happy?"

Shelby hesitated at first. But with reassurance, she too turned her whiteboard around and showed everyone her answer.

"When Mom gets her way," Lauren read. She made a note on Shelby's answer. "You feel Mom is happy when the family does what she wants?"

Luke noticed Shelby was finding it difficult to make eye contact with Rachel as her eyes kept dropping. She hesitated before nodding her head.

"Why would you think that, Peanut?" Rachel asked of Shelby with concern and a bit of hurt.

But Lauren reached a hand over to gently touch her arm, shaking her head. "We will touch on everything that came up from last week and this week, eventually. Right now, I just want to observe and work on icebreakers so I can know what areas we need to tackle first."

Rachel's shoulders slumped but she let it go for now.

It was Shelby's turn again. Reading it to herself first, she handed it to Luke, who read the question aloud.

"The person in our family who helps others the most is…?"

This time, Shelby was quick to pick up her whiteboard and write down an answer.

Luke took some time to think of an answer. This time, Luke couldn't help think of how often he was helping others and something told him Shelby probably was thinking that too. Sure enough, when it came time for her to show her answer first, Shelby had indeed put him down. In fact, all three had put Luke down as the most helpful between the three of them.

Thankfully, Luke managed to knock down a few ice cubes without knocking down the polar bear. It was looking pretty close though. He drew a card and read it aloud.

"When I have a bad dream the first person I would tell about it would be…?" _What the hell kind of question is that?_ For his answer, Luke immediately wrote down, _nobody_. Why would he share something that goes on inside his head? That's his own private thoughts that nobody needs to know about. However, even though it wasn't a bad dream, Luke couldn't help be reminded of when Lorelai had shared her dream about them being married and pregnant with his twins.

Lauren had to snap him out of his thoughts again to show his answer.

Rachel wasn't surprised by Luke's answer, knowing herself that Luke was a very private person who wasn't into sharing his feelings.

"Well, hopefully that might change over the next few weeks," Lauren encouraged before letting Shelby share her answer.

Shelby turned hers around to show she had written Lorelai's name and motioned for his ear to whisper her reasoning. She figured since Lorelai shared hers, he would do the same. It also confirmed that Shelby had indeed been listening and heard Lorelai's dream.

Of course Luke had to share with the rest of the group of what Shelby had told him. He kept it vague at least. "Uh, she says because Lorelai had shared a dream of hers with me before." Luke placed the card on the bottom of the stack, secretly hoping Lauren wouldn't catch onto anything. It was bad enough when strangers assumed he and Lorelai were more than just friends.

It was Shelby's turn again. Reading it to herself first, she handed it to Luke, who read the question aloud.

"The person in our family who helps others the most is…?"

This time, Shelby was quick to pick up her whiteboard and write down an answer.

Luke took some time to think of an answer. This time, Luke couldn't help think of how often he was helping others and something told him Shelby probably was thinking that too. Sure enough, when it came time for her to show her answer first, Shelby had indeed put him down. In fact, all three had put Luke down as the most helpful between the three of them.

Rachel took her turn. By this point, there was enough ice cubes left that the remaining all fell out, causing the skating polar bear to fall. She was still able to take her turn. "The person in our family who gets angry the easiest is…?"

All three wrote down their answers. Both Luke and Shelby put down him while Rachel had written her own father since it could be anybody. Lloyd did cross his mind, but Luke wasn't sure if Rachel would willingly bring up anything about her parents. At least not in the beginning.

All three helped put back the ice cubes, putting the polar bear in a different spot this time before Shelby took her turn again. Hers was _my best friend is…?_

Luke smiled as he wrote _Dad_ on his board. When it came time to show their answers, Shelby had also wrote him down while Rachel had put Ethan and Alan's names. Shelby told Luke to mention that was also a good answer as they were also her best friends. He noticed Lauren make a note whenever he and Shelby had showed their answers.

They continued through more questions until the polar bear fell through once again on Shelby's turn, this time. They played a few rounds before Lauren called it quits and they packed up the game back in its box.

"So, after last week and today, I think I have a pretty good understanding about where we stand," she said. "Like I said, the first couple of weeks were pretty much introductions, as well as show each other how well everyone knows everybody in the family, and teach something you may not have known before."

"Does that mean we're done with playing games?" Luke asked, hopeful.

Lauren shook her head. "Since children do well in play and being able to be creative, my sessions usually involve some sort of game instead of just sitting in a room and talking. Is that okay with you, Luke?"

He let out a sigh. "Yeah, sure." Luke didn't see how kids found hitting a plastic hammer on several fake ice cubes while making sure a plastic figure of a polar bear (that was, for some reason, red when polar bears were supposed to be white) didn't fall, was fun, but if it helped Shelby, he'd do it.

"As I said, nothing can be fixed overnight," she reminded them. "But we can accomplish steps that lead to an issue being fixed over time. Now, I understand there are others that seem to play important roles, aside from Mom, Dad, and Shelby. If there is anybody who would be willing to come in for a session," Lauren pointed a hand towards Rachel, "I don't know how involved your husband is, but if there's a problem that involves him, he can join in, as well."

Rachel nodded but Luke loathed the possibility of the guy joining them.

She pointed to Luke, next, getting his attention. "Your nephew was also mentioned quite a few times. Maybe he could join in for a session, as well, if he's willing."

"My nephew took off a couple months ago." He motioned his head in Shelby's direction, "only Shelby knows where he is. Besides, even if he were around, I highly doubt he would come."

Shelby picked her marker up and wrote something on her board, holding it up. " _He would if I ask him to_ ," Luke read.

"You think so, Shelby?" Lauren asked with a lighthearted smile.

The kid nodded her head with complete confidence.

"Somehow, she has her cousin wrapped around her little finger," he explained. "Most of the time my nephew does something I never thought he would do, it's because Shelby asked him to."

Lauren nodded and made a note of it. "Well, regardless. If there is any outside factors that would help, feel free to invite anyone. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, nephews, whomever. They are more than welcome. For the most part, sessions will just be the four of us. If there is someone you want to invite, just let the rest of us know ahead of time. No surprises, please, so everyone can prepare in case it leads to some awkwardness, or more tension than there should be, between someone."

Rachel lifted just her hand. "My father is actually the only one who doesn't have contact with Shelby. I mean, technically, it's his choosing because he refuses to give Shelby time to warm up to him before expecting her to talk, but I'd like if they had a better relationship and for him to understand where Luke and I are coming from and not because she's intentionally choosing not to speak."

"That could be a possibility," Lauren agreed with a nod and made yet another note.

Luke noticed Shelby tense up at the suggestion. Reaching over, he gave her arm a comforting squeeze.

When Lauren noticed, she asked, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Uh, Rachel's father is actually the only one Shelby hasn't been able to warm up to," he answered for Shelby. "In fact, her anxiety seems to be worse around him."

"It's one of the few things Luke and I have actually agreed on, keeping my father at bay," Rachel inputted.

"Mm hm," Lauren replied, writing down more notes. She looked up from her notepad. "That definitely does sound like something we can work on, later, down the road. In the meantime, are there any questions for me?" She not only looked between the parents, but Shelby as well. "What about you, Shelby? Is there anything you wanna ask me? Or anybody you'd like to have join in with us?"

Shelby stared at the center of the table where the game's box was still sitting. With some more reassurance, she eventually gave a timid nod.

"If you don't feel comfortable talking yet, you can tell your dad or write it on your whiteboard, if you wanted to."

Shelby picked up her marker again, twisting the cap off. She then picked up part of her whiteboard and began writing. There was still some hesitance but Shelby showed her parents and Lauren what she had wrote.

Luke's eyebrows rose when he saw Lorelai's name.

"You want Lorelai to come to a session?" Lauren asked.

Without lifting her gaze, Shelby nodded.

The woman gave a kind smile. "That shouldn't be a problem," she assured. "Is there anything else you'd like to ask? Or add?"

Setting her whiteboard down, Shelby shook her head.

Lauren turned back to ask Luke and Rachel one last time if they had any questions. With no other questions, she dismissed them, walking Luke, Rachel, and Shelby out.

Luke signed them out at the front desk and scheduled next week's appointment. Rachel asked if Shelby wanted to head out to the truck with her while Luke signed out, but Shelby wanted to wait for him.

Once Luke was done, they headed out to his truck to go meet Rebecca for the lunch he and Shelby had scheduled together with her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Remember, this follows the series up until around season six.**

* * *

Chapter 7

Luke pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant where they were meeting Rebecca and her family, parking on the side. He opened his door once the engine was shut off, removing the key and slid out so Shelby could climb out. The moment her feet hit the blacktop, Shelby dashed over to where her aunt and uncle were waiting, wrapping her arms around her aunt's waist.

Luke smiled until he looked over to see Rachel was still sitting in the truck. She was watching the scene unfold right in front of her. "You gonna sit there the whole time we're here?" he questioned with a chuckle.

She shot him a serious stare, not laughing at all.

He looked back just as Shelby's cousins were each taking turns, squeezing an arm around the kid's head. "Took a while for Shelby to open up to them and get to this point."

"And my parents?" It was at that point, Edna appeared into view when the boys moved out of the way.

"Your mom, yes." Luke shrugged, "we haven't tried again with your dad yet. Shelby hasn't felt up to it and he doesn't want to budge on his old fashioned thinking."

Rachel shook her head. Breathing in through her nose, she let it out through her mouth. "Even though I suggested him coming to a session, I don't think it may even work. He's so stuck in his ways."

"Couldn't help to try. That's all you can do." He could say the words just fine, believing them was a whole other story, and, hey, Luke was doing this despite not wanting to. "It's his choice."

"Yeah, I know." She watched her family interact with their daughter for a moment before opening her door and stepped out. Luke met Rachel on the side and walked over to join them.

Luke shook hands with Mike and the oldest boy.

"It was perfect timing you called, sir," said Keith. "I head off for college, this weekend."

"Oh, yeah? Which one?" he asked.

"Yale."

Luke looked at the young man in surprise.

It was Shelby who spoke up. "Our friend, Rory, is going there, too."

"She is, huh? Well, maybe I'll see her around campus, then."

"And I'll tell Rory," she said.

"Hey, where's Jess?" Kevin asked, looking around. "He didn't want to come?"

Luke looked down at Shelby, who grew silent for a moment. He was about to answer for her when she spoke up again. "He moved," was all she said.

Kevin frowned. "Oh. He graduated too?"

That time, Shelby looked up at Luke. He caught her steal a look with Rachel. Luke guessed Shelby didn't want to say out loud in front of her mom that Jess hadn't graduated, thinking Rachel would use it against her cousin. So, Luke decided to come to his little buddy's aide, that time.

"It's complicated," was all he could think to say.

Mike gave a confused look. "How is it complicated? He either graduated or he didn't. You can't answer something as simple as that?"

"Michael," Rebecca scolded her husband. "Sorry, Luke. I'm sure whatever happened is your business, not ours."

Luke thanked her. He was glad Rebecca was respecting Luke was a fairly private person and didn't like having to discuss their personal lives. Technically, they weren't his or Jess' family, just Shelby's. So, none of them had any right to know, including Rachel.

With things moved on from Shelby, the family turned their attention to Rachel. Edna pushed through the group, holding her arms out to pull her youngest in, relieved to see her.

Edna cupped Rachel's face in her hands. "What we going to do with you, Scamp?" she playfully scolded the young woman.

"Mom, I'm a grown woman. I'm not a child anymore." Luke could see her cheeks turn a dark shade of pink. It was quite humorous to witness.

Edna waved a finger in her face. "Hush it, missy. You will always be my little scamp, Rachel Anne Hamilton," she scolded firmly. "You need to stop running off. You had us worried sick, not to mention the grief you put on your own daughter. You need to grow up and start taking some responsibility."

Rachel tried to shoo the matter away. "Mom, please. Let's not do this now."

"You never want to do this now, Rachel Anne."

She shook her head at the ground. "Mom."

Luke caught Shelby looking up at him again.

Once again, Rebecca stepped in. "That's enough, Mom. We're here to see your granddaughter. Let's not have this discussion in front of her, please."

Edna backed off. "That's right, we are." The older woman turned around and held a hand out to Shelby. "Why don't we head inside and get out of this heat, shall we?"

Timidly, Shelby took hold of her grandmother's hand and let her lead Shelby inside, along with the guys. Luke followed, closely behind. He looked behind when Rebecca told them to give them a second. So, they headed inside without the sisters and grabbed a table that could fit them all.

Kevin tried getting Shelby involved in a card game with his _Yu-Gi-Oh_ trading cards he had brought with him until his father told him to put them away, stating this was family time and trading cards didn't belong at the table. That didn't stop the cousins from talking about it. Shelby was going to bring hers but had forgotten them, wanting to trade some of her cards she had more than one of.

Kenneth decided to pound the table in front of Shelby with his open hand, causing her to jump, slightly.

"Kenneth James," Mike scolded his middle.

"I was just trying to get her attention," he shrugged, nonchalantly.

"Then, just call her name."

Apologizing to Shelby, the teenager asked, "So, what sport is up next, Scout?"

Shelby motioned for Luke's ear to give him a message. He lifted his head to pass on, "Only her cousin, Jess, can call her, Scout."

"Sorry, I thought it was a universal nickname," Kenneth said, apologetically, "you know, since we can't call ya, Munchkin." The young man teased her with a smirk.

Shelby whispered to him again. "Shelby is fine," Luke passed on.

"Aw, that's no fun," Kenneth teased some more.

Shelby's response was sticking her tongue out at him which he returned which was weird considering it was coming from an almost grown man, who kept a stubble.

"Real mature, Kenneth," Mike scoffed.

"Hey, I wouldn't do it with anyone other than my little cousins," he shrugged.

"Speaking of," Edna spoke up at that point, sitting on the opposite end from where Luke was sitting. She asked Shelby, "Why didn't you come with us to Tennessee? You still haven't met your other uncle, and his family."

"I wen' to Florida with my friends and their family," she answered, timidly.

"You've missed last summer, too. Don't you know, family comes first, Shelby?"

"We've had the trip planned since December," Luke explained for the kid. "They invited her to go to Disney World as a Christmas present since they see Shelby as a part of their family, too."

"Family is only those who share blood, Luke. Who you're born to. Family should have top priority over friends."

"Edna, remember Luke is her father and has the say what morals are taught," Mike reminded his mother-in-law.

"I know, but I should get some say in my granddaughter's life to teach her life lessons," she tried to argue.

"Hey, what did Mom say?" Keith jumped in the middle, snapping in frustration. "Dear lord, why can't we ever have a nice family gathering without someone shoving in their two cents?"

"Keith Michael," their grandmother scolded. "Do not raise your voice in a public place, especially to your elders."

In a more calm tone, the young man apologized. "I wasn't trying to disrespect anyone, but can we please just drop it? I want to know how my little cousin's trip to Florida was, without anyone biting heads."

This was why Luke hated gatherings of any kind. He was only putting up with this family for Shelby. He knew the family had a set way of doing things that was the complete opposite from how Luke thought and did things. It would be great if they didn't try to push their ways on Shelby, and let her decide how she wanted to think.

Michael agreed with his oldest and insisted on dropping the matter.

Keith was about to ask Shelby about her trip when Rebecca joined them, alone.

"Where's your sister, Becca?" Edna asked of her daughter.

Rebecca let out a sigh. "She left."

Luke gave a confused look. "How? She came with us."

Rebecca scooted in beside her mother, who moved over to make room. "She says she was calling Roger."

"Who's Roger?" her mother asked.

"A friend of hers, Mom," she replied.

Edna wasn't letting it go, though. Not this time. "Why? What happened out there between the two of you?"

"Don't worry about it, Mom. Rachel's being… Rachel." Rebecca picked up her menu to look through it.

Luke exchanged a look with Shelby, who looked disappointed. He wrapped an arm around her, hugging Shelby to his side. Reaching over, she grabbed her kid's cup, taking a drink of her soda. Eventually, they ordered their meals before Keith was finally able to ask how her trip was. Shelby ended up giving short, non descriptive responses throughout the rest of lunch.

To cheer his cousin up, Kevin invited her to his _Yu-Gi-Oh_ birthday party he was having next month, in which Kenneth pointed out he was too old to have theme-based birthday parties. Kevin tried to argue until their parents interfered and told the brothers to stop. Luke vaguely heard Kenneth mumble something about his younger brother being a baby, sounding familiar to another certain relative in the family.

After lunch, Rebecca and her family said their good-byes, giving Shelby, hugs and kisses. Luke was thankful when he heard Rebecca apologize for the family drama, holding her arms around the kid.

Shelby gave her aunt a small smile. "I's okay." Even though, he knew it bothered the kid, she was still forgiving about the whole situation. Shelby had to be stronger than Luke was. If it were him, he had quit by now.

Giving her one last loving squeeze, Rebecca said she would make sure they would send an actual invitation in the mail with all of the party information before Luke and Shelby headed for his truck.

The drive was silent for the most part. Luke eventually asked how Shelby was doing. She just shrugged.

"We'll do all we can to fix this, kiddo. I promise."

She nodded. "I'm praying," she admitted.

Luke forced a smile for her which Shelby returned.

They got back to Stars Hollow around six, which Luke opened for dinner.

Two days later, Luke had to place this week's order for the diner, checking inventory in the back, first. When he grabbed the phone off its hook and put it to his ear to dial the number, he heard Shelby on the other end, quickly realizing she was talking to Jess, filling her favorite cousin in on what happened the other day.

Luke meant to hang the phone up, but something drew him in to eavesdrop instead, listening, covering the speaker part in case they realized somebody was listening. That is until he suddenly heard somebody call out to him, causing Luke to nearly drop the phone in panic, and quickly hung it up. Luke turned on his heel to see Lorelai sitting down on one of the stools at the counter, hiding something in her hands. He thought he had seen her and Rory earlier that morning while having to confront Taylor about the window the old man decided to install so people could see into his candy store, and vice versa, but Luke had finally reached his breaking point with the older man, that by the time he settled down, they had vanished. At first, maybe Luke had imagined them being there until he asked Shelby, who said they had rushed off when Lorelai remembered they had to visit Sookie, first.

"My, aren't we jumpy," Lorelai observed.

Trying to calm his heartbeat, Luke cleared his throat before greeting the woman. "Hey."

She gave him a warm smile. "Bonjour, Luke. Pouvez-vous attacher vos chaussures?

He stared at her, scrunching his eyebrows together in confusion. "What?"

"Uh, hi, Luke. Do you know how to tie your shoes?" she translated.

"Very good," Luke replied with a nod.

"Yep. It came in handy, let me tell you. Not one shoelace fatality on my watch." Luke pulled a mug out from underneath the counter and set it in front of her. "You remembered," she said, holding a hand to her chest, as if touched.

"Yep. A couple things about you, stick," he smirked as Luke poured her, her coffee. "You have a good time?"

"Vos odeurs de chat."

"What's that?

"Your cat smells," she translated.

Luke replaced the coffee pot back into its place. "You must've been a big hit with the salon set."

"The trip was incredible. We had the best time. We were supposed to come back on Saturday."

"I know. Shelby almost freaked out when Babette said you weren't back yet."

"Aw, poor thing," Lorelai replied in sympathy.

"I told her, you guys were probably having such a great time, you just lost track of time and decided to stay longer."

"The best," she agreed. "We were in London, and we ran into this group of girls who were heading to Ireland to stake out the Clarence Hotel."

Luke glanced up towards the ceiling, confused. "Why?" he questioned.

"Because U2 owns it, and Bono hangs out there."

He glanced away, long enough to say, "Ah. Him again."

She continued with her story just as Shelby was coming down the stairs. She too was hiding something, but behind her back. "So then, we jumped on a train and we headed to Ireland. Oh, and you were right, Shelby, it _is_ incredibly beautiful, and so we sat in a bar for two days and did nothing but eat soda crackers and funky cheese and he never showed." Lorelai took a sip of her coffee.

Luke threw up his hand. "Que sera."

Hm. Mm, still good," she said into her coffee, in relief. "I told them about you over there, Señor Swanky-pants."

"Can't tell you how grateful I am to have you as my press agent," he told her, sarcastically.

Shelby was hiding a snicker, holding her head away which he just playfully grabbed the top of. The kid ducked away, pushing his hand away while still holding one hand behind her back.

Lorelai interrupted the scene. "And we got you both something."

Luke perked up at that. "You did?" he smirked.

She nodded with a big, cheesy grin. "Yes, we did."

"You didn't have to do that," Luke told her, modestly.

Shelby agreed.

"What are you talking about?" Lorelai asked as if offended. "We do not go to Europe and come back without bringing something for Luke and Shelby." She pulled out what was hidden from her lap. "Here," she handed him, a jar of jam.

Luke looked at it, exchanging a look with Shelby. "Jam."

"Yes, fancy French jam."

"Fruits de la Terre," he read the label. "Very impressive."

"It's handmade by this woman in Paris who has the most amazing story," she explained.

He stared at her. "Really?"

"Yeah. Orphaned.

"Uh huh."

"And illiterate," she added.

"Okay," he said, turning away to look the jar over.

"Just had nothing in her life, you know, except this burning desire to be the world's greatest jamstress. And she's famous now and, uh, you know, she only makes three bottles of that stuff a year and that's one of them, and I brought it all the way across the, uh. . .," she briefly stammered before caving. "I got it from Sookie's house."

Luke and Shelby had both leaned on the counter, both seemingly finding Lorelai's story amusing. "No," Luke said, jokingly, making Shelby, chuckle.

Lorelai moaned, dropping her forehead into her hand. "Shelby, you told him, didn't you."

She shrugged, leaning one arm on the counter. "Jus' tha' you said you had to 'top by Sookie's house."

Luke jumped in, "And, I was able to take a wild guess from there." He smirked between the girls.

"I swear, we tried to get you both something, but nothing was good enough," she said, sadly.

Luke stood up from the counter as he told her, "Well, forget it. I didn't get you anything on my trip either. We're even." He set the jam down.

"I got you something," Shelby pulled out what she was hiding behind her back, holding the travel mug out to her. "Ta da."

"Oh, Shelby, now I feel even more bad." Lorelai took the travel mug from her, guilt spread all over her face. "It's cool, though. A new travel mug I can take to work. Thanks, Shelby."

"I tried finding you something other than anything coffee-rela'ed, but I couldn' find anything I thought you would like," she explained.

"I love it. Never can have too many cups to hold my coffee in." Lorelai gave the kid a huge smile, causing her to smile in return. "So, how was Florida?"

"It was great. We shot paintball guns, and wen' swimming, and even wen' camping for a few nigh's, too. It was a lo' of fun." The kid ended up going on and on about her trip, including Disney World. Luke actually hoped she would keep Lorelai occupied so she wouldn't have the opportunity to ask about his trip. Shelby also made sure to include the hat she had gotten for her dad which Lorelai said she had noticed and was wondering why Luke was wearing a Grumpy hat instead of the blue hat she had given him, a few Christmases ago. Of course, Lorelai had to tease him about it.

"Wow, that sounds exciting," she said after Shelby finished talking about Splash Mountain.

Shelby smiled. "It was. I had so much fun, I didn' wan' to leave."

Lorelai snickered. "I bet."

"The only thing that made me want to come home was seeing Dad and everyone else again."

"Yeah, us, too." She leaned forward on her arms, towards her. "Dang, kid," Lorelai said when she leaned back. "I just can't get over how much you have grown over the last couple of months since we saw you, last. You're getting big, stop it."

Shelby shrugged, "I can' help it."

"Ah, that's the same excuse Rory would give me when she was your age," she waved her hand through the air, in front of her, as if Lorelai didn't buy it, but in a teasing manner. "I'm pretty sure you can stop it."

"If I did, then Cheryl wouldn' have, had to buy me new shoes while we were there," Shelby pointed out.

"Come on. Why would you pass up an opportunity to buy new shoes?"

"When there's nothing wrong with your old shoes."

Lorelai stared at the kid, in a serious manner. "I swear, you are more and more like your dad each time I see you."

Luke had been clearing and cleaning a table while the girls were talking. He came over, now finished, at that point. "I teach her, well," he stated and shared a smile with his daughter.

Lorelai rolled her eyes while holding a half smirk, shaking her head. "Anyways, what about you?" she asked him.

"What about me?" he asked, knowing full well what she was referring to.

"How was the cruise?"

Yep, he was right. "Oh, it was. . .you know." Luke quickly walked away.

Lorelai twisted around on the stool. "Not really. I've never been on a cruise."

Luke sighed under his breath.

"So," she pressed.

"It was fine," was all he told her.

"Okay. So, you and Nicole had fun, then?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah," he said, awkwardly and offered her more coffee, hoping she would move on.

"Uh, eh, oh," Lorelai just let him pour her more. "So, what did you do?" she continued to press on, eagerly.

Luke continued to play dumb. "Where?"

"On the boat? What did you and Nicole do on the boat?" It seemed like Lorelai wasn't going to let up until he told her something.

"Oh, uh, you know, we fluttered around and ate," he fidgeted awkwardly, "and there was a magic show and a singer and pillow mints, and you know, that's it."

"But, you and Nicole had a good time, you got along, and. . .?"

Luke looked away, interrupting her. "Yeah. Uh, I'm gonna go check on your food." He walked away, heading into the kitchen.

"Okay," he heard her say, slightly confused and pointed out that she hadn't ordered anything yet. Luke also heard Lorelai try and ask Shelby about it. He didn't hear a response, but he did hear the kid suddenly bolt, back upstairs.

 _Phew!_ That was close.

For now…


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Lorelai continued to pester Luke about the cruise but of course the guy was a stubborn mule. Thankfully, Rory came in and occupied her attention for a while. Before they left the diner after eating, Rory headed upstairs to say hello to Shelby again and let the kid give her the Disney pens. Unfortunately, Rory ended up being up there a little longer than planned and Lorelai tried once more to get it out of him, even to the point of following him around the diner. He was relieved to finally see the teenaged girl remerge, downstairs, and requested she take her mother home.

Though, Rory had come down, Luke had not seen Shelby since he heard her dash upstairs after Lorelai tried asking her about the cruise. So when there was some down time, he informed Caesar, he was going upstairs to check on the kid.

Shelby was sitting, cross-legged, on the couch with his guitar on her lap, playing different chords while watching another one of those Japanese cartoons. Luke stopped to watch for a moment when one of the characters' black hair was flashing to blond, looking extremely angry about something as his fists were clenched at his side. When he was completely blond and with a glow around him, he then yelled at a kid with a bowl cut to leave, raising his voice a second time when the kid hadn't responded being in some sort of surprised daze. The kid snapped out of it and ran off. It changed to a young woman sitting between her legs as a alien-looking frog leaped over to her.

A voice started talking whom Luke assumed was the cartoon's narrator. " _Has Frieza pushed Goku's rage to new heights? And, can Goke avenge the life of his close friend, Krillin? Your way to find out is to stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Dragon Ball Z!"_ Luke swore cartoons become a lot more dramatic than the cartoons he grew up watching.

The TV then flashed to the end credits which was minimized to the side of the screen as a robot came on announcing the next cartoon which Shelby changed the channel to Nickelodeon as they were showing a commercial for the newest _Spy Kids: Game Over_ movie that was in 3D.

Shelby immediately perked up at attention from where she was slouched, suddenly interested. "Dad! Can we go see that?" she asked, quickly giving her best pleading look.

"Sure," he said with a shrug. "Maybe we can go see it this weekend when we go shopping for school." Even though they still had another week, Luke wanted to get the back to school shopping done as soon as possible instead of waiting until the weekend before the first day.

"Okay," she replied, looking cheerful again.

"And don't forget, you have your yearly physical, Tuesday," He added, receiving a groan as Shelby dropped her head back against the couch. "I know but it has to get done, kiddo."

"Will I get a shot?"

He shrugged. "Not sure. Maybe. We'll see, though."

Shelby moaned again.

"You'll be fine. It's only to keep you healthy." Luke went over to lean a hand on the back of the couch so he could kiss the top of her head, playfully grabbing her stomach afterwards. Shelby laughed, wrapping her arm across her stomach. Standing up, he asked, "You hungry?"

"A little, yeah."

Luke motioned his head for Shelby to follow. "Well then, come downstairs and I'll fix ya something to eat."

"Can I help afterwards, too?" she asked.

"Of course," he smiled.

So Shelby turned off the TV as _Rugrats_ was starting, dropping the remote on the coffee table. The guitar, she laid on the couch beside her before standing to her feet and headed downstairs with him.

Grabbing an empty stool, Shelby climbed onto it.

"What would you like, kiddo?" Luke asked on the other side of the counter.

"Can I get a turkey burger with cheese, le'uce, extra tomatoes, and onions. No pickles, though, and tater to's on the side, and a glass of orange juice? Please?"

Luke wrote the order down as if Shelby was an actual customer. "Coming right up," he said, finishing up before walking away.

Kirk was sitting there at the counter, as well, who had been there when Luke headed upstairs, still deciding. "You know what, that sounds good. Me too, please," he told Luke.

Luke made a note of that and walked away, catching Shelby tell Kirk, "Copycat."

"Are not," Kirk childishly argued.

"Are to," Shelby, childishly, argued right back.

"Are not."

"Are to."

"Are not."

"Are to."

Luke dropped the order off with Caesar and came back to the children. He leaned his hands on the counter to lean in towards them. "You two don't knock it off, I'm gonna separate the both of you. Got it?"

"Yes, sir," Kirk replied as Shelby replied, "Yes, Dad." Both looked like scolded children, though, moreso, Shelby.

He thanked them before attending to other customers. Luke looked back in time to catch them sticking their tongues out at one another. "Hey!" Both Kirk and Shelby jumped. "What did I just say?"

They quickly turned away from each other.

Once her food was ready, Luke brought it over along with Kirk's, setting them down in front of the two. Shelby thanked him, causing Kirk to accidentally call him, dad, too. Luke and Shelby looked at him at that.

"Er, I mean, thank you, Luke," Kirk quickly apologized.

"Last I checked, I only had the one kid," Luke pointed out.

"Jess is kind of your kid," said Shelby. "Sort of."

"He's my nephew, Shell. He was just staying with us," he explained.

"I know. There was this kid in my class, las' year, who lived with her grandparen's. She said they were like her mom and dad, too. _And_ , Jess is like my big brother."

Luke had to smile. "Maybe you're right, Shell," he told her, humoring her, even though a part of him did partly agree. Reaching over, Luke gently touched the top of her head. Quickly remembering Shelby had also ordered juice, he headed into the back kitchen to get her, some.

When he returned, Taylor had come in and was talking to Shelby, leaning on the end of the counter, dressed in that ridiculous outfit of his for his new store.

Luke came over to set the glass of orange juice, down, beside Shelby's plate. "What do you want, Taylor?" he asked, in an annoyed by Taylor tone of voice.

"Nothing much. I was just asking Shelby, here, if she would be interested in being Stars Hollow's very own Ice Cream Princess." The older man turned back to Shelby. "So, how about it? You don't have to get anything except possibly a sage-colored, floor-length dress and you can have a free ice cream sundae."

"Um, Taylor, Rory already told me you tried to make her, queen withou' even asking her," Shelby finally informed him but in a shy manner. "I like ice cream and all, bu' no' tha' much."

"Are you sure, Shelby? We could really use a wonderful, sweet girl like you." He tried to make the kid change her mind, but Shelby just shook her head, refusing to budge an inch. Taylor looked defeated. He let out a sigh. "Fine, if that's how you feel. I thought since I had your support on the shop since the beginning, I could count on your support now but if you want to be a mule like your dad…" He gave a shrug, sounding as if Taylor was trying to guilt Shelby into changing her mind.

Luke jumped in to rescue his little buddy. "Taylor, knock it off."

"Knock what off?" he asked as if he was innocent.

"Quit trying to guilt trip my kid into doing something you know damn well she doesn't like," Luke said, referring to the princess and dress thing.

Taylor shrugged. "I have no idea what you are talking about," he continued with the charade but Luke gave him a knowing look to show he wasn't buying it and warn for him to back off before there was trouble. Reluctantly giving in, Taylor turned to leave. But not before apologizing to Shelby. He stole one last look with Luke as he turned to leave.

Just as he reached the door, Rachel, along with Roger, came in. They greeted the older man which Taylor returned, adding, "your daughter is impossible just like her father is," before thanking Roger, who held the door for him.

However, despite it being Taylor, that wasn't what concerned Luke. What concerned him, was when Shelby slid down from her stool and headed back upstairs, taking her dinner and juice with her.

Rachel wandered over. "Taylor being Taylor again?" she asked with a half smirk, knowing how much the older man got on Luke's nerves a lot.

Luke grabbed a rag from behind him and wiped off where Shelby had been sitting. "You know Taylor," he replied without looking up at her.

Luke noticed she was looking around the place. "Where did Shelby go? I swear I saw her in here," Rachel observed.

Tossing the rag back where he had gotten it from, Luke grabbed the ketchup and passed it to a customer sitting on the other end who had requested it. "She headed upstairs."

"You mind if I head up to say hello? I thought the three of us could go see a movie. If that's okay? Roger and I have been so busy this week, what with finalizing everything with the house and moving, we figured we'd take a break and thought Shelby would like to join us." Roger agreed, as well.

Luke couldn't help let out a tired breath of air towards the counter. "You know what, Rachel," he said, looking up at her. "I don't think that's a good idea right now."

Rachel looked taken aback. "What? Why?"

Not wanting to argue at the moment, after having to deal with Taylor, and all of the other stresses in his life, he just told her, "We'll discuss it next week during our session with Lauren." Turning back to Kirk, Luke asked, "Want anything else, Kirk?"

"A refill on my coffee would be nice," he replied.

He grabbed the coffee pot. "Coming right up," he said and poured some more into the young man's cup.

Kirk thanked him before taking a drink and took another bite of his burger.

Luke then walked away to assist other customers. When he stole a quick look back at Rachel, she was holding her elbow in her hand while rubbing the back of her neck. Roger wrapped an arm around her.

They too reluctantly left.

Luke stole another look after them to see Roger shooting him a cold glare as he let Rachel go through first while holding the door for her, which Luke shot one right back. Turning away, Luke took some random female's order.

Some time later, Shelby returned, bringing her now empty plate and cup along with her. She took them into the back kitchen where one of the current employees was washing dishes. He overheard her offer to help and started rinsing off the ones the employee had already washed and had set in the other sink.

Once the bulk of the dishes were washed, dried, and stacked, Shelby grabbed a clean rag and the cleaning solution and started wiping down tables that were cleared. By nine-thirty, the diner was empty of customers so Luke closed up and had everyone start the close-down routine which Shelby helped, too.

"Hey, kiddo," said Luke, getting her attention. "I'll be heading to the bank in the morning, and I just remembered since another birthday of yours passed. You know what that means." He smiled at her.

Shelby shrugged one shoulder. "I get another raise?"

"Yep. Which means you will now be making three dollars and twenty-five cents a day."

"Plus, tips, righ'?" she added.

"Yep," he nodded, still smiling for her.

That got a smile from the kid, showing off her dimples. It made Luke smile more, glad to get one from her. He still felt inclined to ask, "you doing okay, kiddo?"

Shelby returned her attention towards the salt and pepper shakers she was refilling for the next day. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"You sure?" he gently pushed.

She took a deep breath while staring at the salt she was pouring.

Luke kneeled beside her chair to wrap a hand around her waist and touched his forehead to the side of hers so their hats touched. "We'll get through this, kiddo. I promise," he whispered. Before letting go, Luke held a kiss to her right temple.

Shelby looked over at her dad and forced out another smile for him.

Later that night, after the diner was finished and the two had gotten ready for bed, Shelby came back over to his side, with Charizard and Pikachu in her left arm, and climbed in beside him. She then snuggled beside her dad which Luke turned over onto his left side. He gave her a loving smile before the two closed their eyes and eventually fell asleep.

The next morning, Lorelai and Rory stopped by for breakfast at a surprisingly early hour than usual.

Shelby came over while Luke was taking their usual order and immediately hugged Lorelai without saying a word, catching the woman, off guard. She didn't push the kid away, of course. Instead, Lorelai wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her hand along her back. After a minute, Shelby eventually let go and headed around where Rory was sitting and did the same. The Gilmores exchanged a concerned look with Luke while Shelby was still hugging Rory, who returned it. Rory's lasted a lot longer than Lorelai's when Rory had to tell Shelby, she had made a mistake on when she would be leaving for Yale which tightened the kid's grip on her.

Rory reassured she wouldn't be gone for good and would come home on weekends. Not right away, but once she was able to get settled and everything, Rory promised the kid, she would.

Lorelai also asked Luke if they could borrow his truck to move Rory into her dorm, assuring him, she was capable of driving a stick when he asked. Luke agreed as long as she replaced the gas and said he would bring the truck by later that evening after closing.

Shelby visited with Lorelai and Rory while they ate their breakfast until they were done and gave them, each, another hug before they left to run the several errands they had planned that day for Rory's move.

The twins came by later that day, asking Shelby to come hang out with them. So, grabbing her scooter from upstairs and giving her dad a kiss, she headed out with her friends. Luke did eventually get around to letting Shelby know about both him and her mom wanting to get her a new bike as a belated birthday present. That was when Shelby admitted to not really being interested in a new bike, liking her Razor scooter a lot more. With her old bike, Shelby suggested donating it so another kid could enjoy it like she had. Luke helped her fix it up to look like new and dropped it off at a donation center.

Besides, it helped that the twins had asked for scooters of their own for their birthday after Shelby let them ride hers, a few times. Luke still made sure all three kids were wearing their helmets, elbow, and knee pads, especially Shelby. Though, he wasn't sure why he would remind all three when only one was his, including checking in with him. Luke did feed all three when the kids returned for a late lunch. Guess the boys had grown on him more than he realized.

Later that night, after he closed, Luke told Shelby, he was taking the truck over to Lorelai's house and asked if she wanted to come with him, already knowing she would. But Shelby surprised him and said, she was tired from that day and wanted to stay home and play video games. Luke guessed it had to do with Rory leaving for Yale and helping load her stuff into the back probably would be hard on the kid. So, Luke reminded Shelby on their rules for her being home alone before kissing the side of her head. He made sure both the door to the apartment were locked and the door to the diner, pocketing the spare key Luke kept hidden above it as an extra precaution.

Finally, Luke slid into his truck and drove over to Lorelai's. Rory had gone to resume the Friday night dinners at her grandparents' house, so that just left the two of them to load the truck. While carrying Rory's stuff out, Lorelai mentioned running into Rachel and learning she and Roger had gotten married and asked how Shelby was taking it and Luke filled her in on the whole situation, including how the therapy sessions were going. Though, he left out the part about Shelby requesting Lorelai joining in a session, unsure how she would react.

"Jeez, you'd think if you went to a fancy school like Yale, there'd be a mattress in the room," Luke complained while standing in the middle of the truck bed when Lorelai had returned, carrying a black trash bag in each hand after they were through talking about it.

"Yeah, go figure, huh?" she replied before tossing one of the bags onto the truck bed.

"You packed her stuff in Hefty bags?"

"Hey, she's lucky I even had these in the house," she retorted in sarcasm.

Luke pointed behind him. "If you needed luggage, you should've asked me." He then started moving stuff around to make sure everything could fit and won't fall out during the drive.

"You have luggage?" Lorelai asked, as if surprised.

This time, Luke was the one to retort, "Yes, I have luggage. Why wouldn't I have luggage?" while still moving stuff around.

"You never go anyway."

Luke stopped briefly while holding a box in his hands to stare at her. "I just went on a seven country cruise and Shelby just visited Florida," he was quick to remind her.

"That's right," Lorelai said as if a revelation had hit her while pointing a finger at him, "the mystery cruise that you don't want to talk about."

He set the box on top of another and grabbed another, looking around to see where it fit. "I told you, I brought luggage. What more info do you need?" Luke then continued moving other stuff around when he set it down.

"Why won't you tell me what happened?" Lorelai persisted on harassing him about the cruise.

"Because."

"Why? Luke, I swear, I'm dying to know. But, every time I bring it up, you spaz out." She shrugged her hands part way up. "Why won't you tell me? I would tell you."

"Yes, but I wouldn't want to know." Luke maneuvered forward and jumped down off the tailgate, heading around behind where Lorelai was standing. He pushed a plastic container, missing its lid and full of towels, off of a box.

No one said anything as Lorelai watched him. Finally, she asked, "Did something happen between you and Nicole?"

Luke stared up at the night sky with just his eyes before forcing out a yes.

"What? Did you propose?" she teased him.

He froze. Of course she would say that. Taking a deep breath, Luke turned sideways to fully face her, forcing out another "yes."

Her eyes widened before she too turned sideways to fully face him while still holding onto the truck. "Oh my God. You proposed?"

He took another deep breath in before finally admitting to her, "Yes, I proposed."

Lorelai was blown away. It seemed like she tried to force a smile as she stumbled on her words, briefly jerking her head, back. "T-this is… Big. This is huge."

"There's more," he told her, reluctantly, now glad Shelby had stayed home.

She turned her head to look at him, sideways. "There's more?" she questioned. "Okay. Well, what? Did she say yes?"

Softly, Luke replied, "Yes."

Lorelai stared at him. "She said yes. You proposed, and she said yes. Wow." She dropped her gaze towards the ground at her feet.

Again, he admitted, "There's more," still in the soft, reluctant tone.

She quickly lifted her head. "There's more after you proposed and she said yes? What?" She briefly looked off to the side.

"We got married."

She stared at him once again in disbelief. "You got married? H-how could you…," She stumbled on her words some more, easing up on him to finish, "...get married?"

Luke shrugged. "We asked the captain, and he married us."

"And, that's legal?"

"Apparently," he replied, tilting his head briefly in another shrug.

"So you're married?" she continued to question. "You're legally married?"

Luke let out a stressful sigh.

"This is just…" Lorelai quickly looked off to the side again.

"Actually, there's a little more," he added. May as well finish this.

Lorelai suddenly gasped in shock, her eyes shut. "And, she's pregnant. Oh my God, you finally reproduced again." She covered her face in her hands.

"We're getting divorced."

She then suddenly looked back up at him, dropping her hands at her side to stare at him with an extremely confused look on her face. Looking away for a second, Lorelai shook her head, admitting she needed to sit down and headed over to the front porch steps.

Luke followed, shrugging a hand out in front of him as he said, "It just all happened so fast."

Lorelai glanced back at him out of the corner of her eye. "Well, yeah."

"We're on this boat in the middle of nowhere," he began to explain, "and everything's moving, and you feel weird all the time." Lorelai dropped on the top step, holding her head up, in her hands as he sat next to her. "There's this endless supply of food and drink." Luke paused to add, "midnight buffets, by the way, are the reason why the rest of the world hates us," before continuing. "Everyone around us was either in love, or engaged, or celebrating their hundredth wedding anniversary, and we were having a good time. There you go." Luke stared at the ground.

"There you go," Lorelai remarked, half muttering as she stared ahead, now with her arms crossed on top of her knees.

"Of course, the next morning we both woke up and realized we lost our minds. We tried to ignore it for a while. Went snorkeling. But, by the time we, uh, hit land, we were separated, and now we're getting divorced."

She looked over at him. "Okay,well… My jet lag and your love life is making me dizzy." Lorelai looked forward again before asking, "is there more?"

"Nope," he answered. "That's it."

There was a brief pause before Lorelai said, "I'm sorry," with a one shoulder shrug, shaking her head.

"Ah, that's okay," he briefly looked in her direction but hardly made eye contact and turned away afterwards.

"How'd Shelby take the news? I mean, finding out both parents got married in one summer to two different people? That's gotta be a lot to take in."

He let out another deep sigh. "Not great at first. She even sent Reverend Skinner to try and talk me out of the divorce." Luke wanted to chuckle at that last part but couldn't help remember how much the kid really wanted somebody special in their lives.

"Awww," Lorelai moaned in sympathy. "So, she was happy you proposed and Nicole said yes, huh?"

"Yeah," he barely muttered while sadly staring at the ground. Luke looked up again at her, but didn't meet her eyes. "Had to explain to Shelby, the stupid mistakes adults make when they have had a little too much to drink."

"And?"

Luke shrugged. "Once she understood, Shelby seemed to accept it." He fiddled with his fingers. "Besides…"

"What?" she urged when he hesitated.

"Nothing," he shook his head.

"No, tell me," Lorelai insisted, gently.

"Ah, it sounds stupid." But Lorelai still wouldn't let him off the hook that easy. "Well, it would have been nice to have her, there."

"Shelby, you mean?"

"Yeah."

"Of course. Getting married is a big event in your life that you should share with the ones you love. I know I'd for sure would want Rory there if I ever got married." Luke stared at nothing in particular as he continued to fiddle with his fingers. Lorelai must have sensed there was more because she asked, "what is it?"

There was no skirting around this. Luke may as well fess up. Why not? He already had to confess his short, already failed marriage.

"Well, you know how the groom usually asks a brother or usually the best friend to be their best man, right?"

Lorelai slightly tilted her head. "Yeah?"

"Well, lately, I figured…" He quickly glanced up. "If I ever did, you know, find someone, get married… Ah, it's sounds stupid," Luke looked away in the opposite direction as he tried to wave it off with his hand.

"No, what?" Lorelai continued to press further.

He took a deep breath once again towards the ground, in front of him. "Lately, even though it's supposed to be another guy standing there, I've actually imagined having my little buddy standing there, instead, as my, best girl, I guess." He glanced over at her as Luke shrugged.

Out of the corner of his eye, Luke saw Lorelai smile.

"That's not stupid," she assured him. "I think that's sweet, and I'm sure Shelby would be honored to stand beside you, to see you get married."

He looked at her. "You think?"

She nodded once. "I know so."

Hearing that, made him feel better and smiled in return as they stared at each other. However, the moment ended up interrupted by Lorelai's phone ringing. While she answered the call, Luke stood up to continue loading the truck.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry it took so long to update!**

 **As for Kirk's slip-up, it doesn't mean anything. I just thought it would be funny/sweet as I can see him doing it. Also, thought I would point out because I'm sure a lot of you have been waiting for this. At the end of this season is when Luke finally makes a move towards Lorelai. It's not really a spoiler since this does follow the series. Jess also returns like he does in the series but also not until we get to that part.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The weekend started out tearful when the Gilmore girls stopped by their breakfast, Saturday morning. Rory came into the diner first, but when Luke asked where her mom was, that's when he saw it. His truck in reverse as Lorelai backed it down the street. Come find out, Lorelai did not know how to drive a stick, after all. So, letting the girls chat amongst themselves, Luke rushed out, ordering Lorelai out so he could get it out of reverse and parked the truck across the street, which she shouted out her being annoyed at being proved wrong.

With his truck being one of his pride and joys, after Shelby, of course, Luke had second thoughts letting the girls borrow it. Of course Lorelai talked him back into letting them. So, he wrote out a diagram of what the letters stood for on the gear shift. While they were discussing matters, Rory had ordered a Yale special to go, for breakfast, since they were short on time.

Before they left, Shelby hugged Rory one last time, not wanting to let go.

"I'll be back, I promise," Rory reminded her. "I won't be around as much, but I'll still be around. Okay?"

"I know," she whimpered softly but loud enough they could all hear her.

Eventually, Shelby peeled away and let Lorelai and Rory leave. Much to Luke's distaste, a guy in a suit was entering as they were leaving.

"Mister Danes?"

He glanced up as Luke muttered, "Unfortunately."

"I'm Russell Bynes," the guy in the suit introduced as he came over. "I'm with Blodgett, Sage, Albet, Pettruccio, Stein, Lemming, Stein, attorneys for Nicole Diana Leahy."

"And the sun just went down. Thanks for coming," Luke said, annoyed when all he had was one simple question that could have been answered over the phone like Luke wanted.

"Pardon me?" he asked, confused.

Luke glared at the guy. "You're wasting your time. I had a simple question. Where do I sign? It didn't require a personal visit."

Russell held up his hands. "Whoa, whoa. There's no place to sign because this is just a document informing the defendant of the action being filed."

"What are you talking about?" Luke asked, peering at him. "Who's the defendant?"

"You are."

Luke stood up straighter as he exclaimed, "Oh my God!" getting attention from some of the customers. Shelby stood by, volleying back and forth with a puzzled expression.

Russell asked, "Didn't you read the papers?"

"Yeah, the Red Sox lost by three, Bush is at the ranch, chatting up a Swiss dude…"

"The divorce papers," he interrupted Luke's sarcastic joke.

"I know what you meant," Luke told him. "Look, I didn't kill anyone. Nicole and I kind of accidently got married and now we want out. We both want the same thing."

Russell shook his head right back. "Don't try to play me, Mister Danes."

"I'm too busy for this." Luke tried to walk away, wanting as far away from the guy, as possible.

"Fine, because I should be dealing with your legal representation," he argued.

Luke threw his arms out to the sides in frustration. "I don't believe this."

Russell turned to open his bag he had sitting on the stool right next to him. "Not giving us your lawyer's information is only going to prolong the process."

"Okay, if I give you my lawyer's name, will you leave?"

"I will leave," he assured, pulling out a leather bound notebook and one of those fancy lawyer pens.

"Okay, ready?"

"Yes," he answered, clicking the pen open.

"His name is Don Dewey. He works at the firm of Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe." Luke gave him the information for his fake but clever lawyer, Russell repeated it back as he wrote the information down. That is until Russell caught on to what Luke was doing.

He forced a chuckle before slamming the notebook closed. "That was very immature."

"Yeah, well, tickled me," Luke muttered out loud, somewhat amused.

Russell put his pen away in his suit jacket. "My bosses will want to hear this," he stated as if it was supposed to be a threat.

"Oh, come on. They've probably heard that one before." When Russell turned to leave, Luke quickly called out, "Oh, hey, if you want Don's number, it's 555-55...5...5."

Russell just left without another word.

Lorelai returned that same moment, holding the piece of paper he had written the diagram on, stating nothing was where it says it is. Luke just simply took it and handed it back the other way which she reassured him, everything was going to be fine.

Shelby spoke up about tagging along, since Luke had started showing her about driving, explaining the basics for now, but had an appointment to mow Mrs. Johanson's yard that day. Lorelai reassured again, it would be fine.

After Lorelai left again, Shelby told Luke, she was going to finish getting ready to head over to Mrs. Johanson's, while praying for Lorelai. Shelby returned thirty minutes later wearing her helmet and carrying her scooter over her shoulder. She set it against the front of the counter, to climb onto one of the stools, she lifted the lid to the donuts, grabbing a chocolate one using a napkin before replacing the lid.

"How long you think you'd be gone for?" Luke asked.

"Um, Mrs. Johanson wan's both her fron' and backyard mowed, so until three?"

"Okay," he agreed. "That's perfect. I told Lorelai to have the truck back by four. I'll leave Caesar in charge, this evening, and we can go school shopping and see that movie you want to see. How's that sound?"

"Sounds great," she replied.

"Okay." Luke leaned over the counter to kiss Shelby on the forehead which she returned on his cheek before sliding down from the stool. "Be safe, okay? And don't talk to any strangers, and make sure you drink plenty of water."

"Got it, Dad," she reassured him. Shelby snatched her scooter and headed outside to head out for Mrs. Johanson's house.

Luke watched her go from the window as Shelby pushed off with her foot, holding the donut on top of one of the handlebars. Once she was out of sight, he refocused back on work.

For the most part, things were rather pleasant. That is until the three head bosses from Nicole's firm showed up and ruined that pleasantness. For a few hours, they took up one of the tables, arguing with him and just being a pain in Luke's butt. They were still there when Lorelai returned that afternoon.

Out of ideas, Luke pleaded with Lorelai to be a character witness or something to explain to Moe, Larry, Curly that he really didn't want anything from Nicole, other than to get out their accidental marriage. She tried but it wasn't enough in their book.

At this point, Luke was at a loss. Out of tiredness, he leveled with them, though somewhat in another joking manner, stating he did want something: the three hours he lost when they had seen a guy playing musical drinking glasses while on the cruise. That, at least, got them to leave. But this was far from over.

It was actually a good thing they left, because Luke ended up having to drive Lorelai back up to Yale when she asked to borrow his truck for a little while longer, while arguing over the mattress from Yale, her and Rory had swapped out. Letting Caesar know, to let Shelby know where he had gone, Luke and Lorelai headed back to Yale where he helped unload the second load she had brought for Rory's dorm.

After constantly being watched by Tess, Luke made a deal with a guy named Chip, to help him bring the mattress back into the dorm when Lorelai hadn't come back out. In exchange, Luke had to help him unload his stuff. Lorelai still tried to object but Luke wasn't having any of it and went to go help Chip. Once all of Rory's stuff was unloaded, as well as Chip's, Luke waited outside in the truck while the girls said good-bye.

On the way back to Stars Hollow, Luke stopped for gas since he and Shelby had plans that evening. However, the plans ended up having to be moved until tomorrow. As soon as they pulled up to the diner, Lorelai got a page message requesting to come back, from Rory, yet again, insisting on borrowing his truck. Luke let out annoyed sigh when he and Shelby had plans, but gave in anyway, and had to tell Shelby, who was helping out in the diner when he walked in. Thankfully, the kid was just as understanding as he was, especially when Lorelai called later, to let Luke know, she was staying there, overnight. At least, this time, Luke made her promise to have it back, three hours in advance without telling her. Shelby laughed when he told her. So, Lorelai ended up on time and they were finally able to run their errands. Unfortunately, not before Luke had to unload and store the Yale mattress that was once again, back in his truck. Which, he just stored in the garage with Jess' car he still had hidden.

It worked out anyway, moving their plans to Sunday, as the two spent all afternoon, shopping for not only school supplies, but new clothes, as well. This year, instead of picking out a backpack, Shelby picked out a messenger bag with the Hogwarts crest and snowy owl, Hedwig, from _Harry Potter_ , instead. Her wardrobe was pretty much still the same, though. Jeans for when it got cooler, shorts for now, which were mostly cargo shorts. Two were camouflage patterned, of course.

Shelby also picked out a few new cartoon shirts, basketball and baseball jerseys, and some plain and striped shirts. Luke also made sure to get her new socks and underwear, grabbing some socks for himself.

They ended up walking passed a selection of kids' watches and a _Pokemon_ watch caught her eye.

"I can pay for it since it isn' on our lis'," she offered.

"Nah it's fine, kiddo. Knowing what time it is, is a good thing to know, especially for school," he said and let her toss the watch into the cart with everything else.

Once they had everything on the list Luke had written out, beforehand, they headed up to the registers to wait in line. The line eventually moved enough where they could unload everything onto the conveyor belt. Shelby helped, setting the stuff nicely like her dad was.

While they waited, Shelby asked if she could go grab a drink of water from the water fountain by the restrooms. Luke told her to hurry back. By the time, she returned, the middle-aged cashier was ringing their stuff up. After the cashier bagged them, she handed them to Shelby, who set the bags back into the shopping cart while Luke was getting out his debit card from his wallet, watching the ending balance go up.

Luke swiped his card when the cashier was done ringing their stuff up and once the receipt was printed and was handed to him, he and Shelby headed for the exit where they headed out to where Luke had parked. They set all the bags on the floor, on her side.

"Movie first? Or would you like to eat first?" he asked as Luke started up the truck.

"Movie firs'," she replied. "Then we'll be able to talk abou' the movie while we're eating." So, that's where they headed next.

At the movie theater, Luke bought their tickets before they headed inside, heading for the concession stand first. Since it was still the summer and a weekend, the lines were semi long. They waited ten minutes to get their popcorn and drinks and then headed for their theater where Shelby chose the first row of the back section, heading towards the middle seats.

There was a fifteen minute wait as several other moviegoers filled the theater. Being a kid's movie, of course there would be other children, something Luke wasn't looking forward to. He hoped the kids were all good and would remain in their seats and quiet throughout the whole entire movie, but he doubted it.

The lights were turned off except for the floor lights in the walkway. Before the movie started, several previews played, including one from _Disney_ , called _Freaky Friday_ , where a teenaged daughter switched places with her mother.

Shelby leaned over to whisper to her dad, "I wouldn' wan' to switch places with Mom."

"That'll be weird, huh?" Luke whispered back.

She nodded. "Oh, yeah. Very weird."

Luke chuckled under his breath playfully grabbed at her head.

Shelby whispered once more to let him know she wanted to see the _Brother Bear_ movie when they showed the preview. Soon, after what seemed like a thousand trailers, the actual movie they came to see, started. Since it was a 3D movie, the movie made sure to tell the audience when to put on their 3D glasses. With this being her first 3D movie, Shelby was the most excited while Luke felt silly wearing a pair of glasses made out of cardboard with red see-through plastic covering the holes. About ninety percent of the movie they had to wear the glasses, so halfway through, Luke ended up getting a slight headache. Not to mention, he thought the acting and movie was cheesy, and was surprised to see Sylvester Stallone in it as not one, but four characters. To Shelby, though, it was really awesome. Or at least the action scenes were. Later on, as they were leaving, Shelby also admitted the characters were a little cheesy.

"I liked the ending, though," she said.

"At least one of us liked the movie. I had trouble following it, the whole time, and the 3D effects kept giving me a headache." Luke stopped at the restrooms and told Shelby to meet back here after they were done before going into the men's room while Shelby went into the ladies' room.

After the movie, Luke headed back to Stars Hollow where they had dinner at Sniffy's since it had been a while since they seen Buddy and Maisy. The couple picked on the guy, stating it looked like Luke wasn't feeding Shelby. It was clear Shelby was going to be petite like Rachel was when she's older, even though she looks like him.

Since they had popcorn earlier, Luke skipped the appetizer when Maisy asked and gave them a moment to decide before ordering.

While they waited for their food, Maisy returned to ask about Shelby's summer. She told them all about Florida and Disney World, and spending time with her best friends and their family.

"What? No pictures?" she questioned with her fists on her hips.

Luke interjected into the conversation. "Their mom took lots of pictures and gave me the ones Shelby was in. They're just at home."

"And you didn't bring them?" Maisy scolded him.

He shrugged. "I didn't know we would be coming...Ow!" Luke rubbed where Maisy smacked him on the side of the head.

"Next time, bring them. Got it? I wanna seem them." She smiled afterwards, though. Luke knew the woman meant well and he sure did appreciate all Maisy and Buddy has done for him, and was glad his little buddy had some kind of grandpa figure in her life, who spoiled her, by bringing Shelby, dessert after they finished eating their dinner. Being a big fan of ice cream, Shelby graciously accepted it A great way to end a fun day of father-daughter bonding, even if most of it was spent shopping.

Being Sunday evening and hardly any customers in the diner when they got back home, Luke sent Caesar and John home and closed the place.

"You don't have to help, kiddo," Luke told Shelby when she had grabbed a rag and the cleaning solution.

Shelby gathered all the condiments from the tables and moved them to the counter. "It's okay. I don' mind." In reality, Luke knew the kid really wanted to finally be able to buy her new GameBoy handheld.

"How much did you make, yesterday, by the way?" he asked as she went to grab more.

"Mrs. Johanson paid me ten dollars for mowing her whole lawn." Shelby loaded her arms with more of the condiments.

"Sounds like a lot of work. So you think you reached your goal yet?" Luke used the rag and cleaning solution Shelby brought out to wipe down the counter.

"How much do I have in my accoun'?"

"Well, when I deposited your allowance, last week, I believe it was…" Luke thought back to when he went to the bank. "About seventy-five dollars."

"I forgo' to give you the money I go' from all the jobs I've been doing around town," she added.

"When we head up, we can count it out and take it to the bank, tomorrow," he suggested. They finished closing down and getting the place ready to open in the morning before heading upstairs.

They showered and got ready for bed, first. While Luke was showering, Shelby had already dumped the jar she kept her money in, out onto the kitchen table and started counting. When Luke came over, changed into his pajamas, he sat down and began collecting all of the paper bills while Shelby was sorting out the coins.

"I think 'tan was trying to get rid of all his pennies," Shelby said when she finished.

"You mean Stan?" he asked, double checking.

She nodded. "Yeah." Shelby pointed out the stacks she was counting the pennies into.

"Pretty sure he did that to me as a kid," Luke chuckled. Once he had the paper bills together, Luke placed them off to the side and started helping count out the large pile of pennies. Being older and being used to counting out change, Luke counted a lot faster as he quickly swiped the pennies away into smaller piles. With his help, they were done in about five minutes.

"You have about four dollars and forty-four cents just in pennies."

"Tha's over four hundred pennies!" Shelby gasped.

"How did you even get all these home?" he couldn't help wonder out loud.

Shelby picked up the jar she was keeping her money in. "Where do you think I go' this from? I had to walk home with this."

"I'm sure it was heavy," Luke figured. Being copper, pennies alone were heavy in large quantities.

"Oh, yeah. My arms kept getting tired and I had to keep 'topping to res'," she explained.

They continued counting the rest, counting out the silver coins. Besides the odd jobs she was doing, the money she kept on her, was also all of her tips from the diner. Once it was all accounted for, her earnings from odd jobs and tips came out to sixty-eight dollars and eighty-three cents.

"Jeez, maybe I should have you start pitching in with the bills." Luke chuckled, teasing the kid.

"I could," Shelby offered.

"Shell, I was just kidding," he told her.

She shrugged. "I know, but I wouldn' mind helping pay the bills."

Luke leaned over to kiss the side of her head. "You are sweet, kiddo. But, it's okay. Enjoy being a kid and not having responsibilities like bills, for as long as you can."

"Are you sure?"

He smiled. "Positive."

"Okay." A yawn then escaped from the kid.

"Guess it's time for bed," Luke noted.

Shelby didn't even fight him. She just rubbed at her eye. Getting up, Shelby began sliding all of her money back into the jar with her hand, holding it at the edge of the table. Luke helped until it was all picked up. He then got up, himself, to head over to his desk, grabbing a scrap piece of paper and a pencil to write down the amount so they wouldn't forget. He brought it back and dropped the paper into the jar with the money while Shelby had gone over to feed Gexie.

"Good nigh', Gexie," Luke heard her tell the little gecko.

Once Gexie was taken care of, Shelby headed over to climb up to her bunk. When Luke came over, she was paused on the ladder, staring through the steps towards Jess' bunk.

"You okay, kiddo?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." With that, she climbed up to her bunk and got under her comforter.

Luke stepped up to say good night and give her, one last kiss before heading over to his side, turning out the lights in the process.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

On Tuesday, Lorelai stopped by the diner on her way to visit Rory at Yale before her classes started for the day. Shelby wasn't down yet so she chatted with Luke, which he asked how she was holding up with the whole "empty nest" transition she was now going through.

"Eh," she shrugged. Lorelai perked up to ask, "hey, you think I could borrow Shelby?"

He shrugged in return. "And do what with her?"

"Oh, I thought I'd take her to a bar, let her try her first beer. Get her a male stripper. You know, that kind of thing," she said, joking with him before snapping, "what do you think? I need a kid around."

"Forget it," Luke told her with a half smirk. "You had your eighteen years with yours. This is my kid."

Lorelai pouted like a scolded child being told no. "Come on!" she tried to insist but Luke stood firm.

"Besides, Shelby and I have another busy day today."

"Oh, what's on the agenda for today?" she asked, seeming interested and thankfully dropping trying to steal his kid.

"She has her yearly physical, later this morning, and after lunch, we have to drive to Providence, for our third session." Luke forced himself to sound enthused. He still wasn't thrilled to be in therapy. It didn't help it felt like he was paying to sit in a room and play games for an hour.

Lorelai smiled for him. "Sounds fun," she said. "Do you know what game you'll be playing this week?"

"Not a clue. Hopefully, something that doesn't involve polar bears, or any animal for that matter."

"Aw, but _Don't Break the Ice_ sounds like fun. I've actually thought about getting the game to add to our board game collection."

"But, it's a kid's game," he pointed out.

"Luke, how long have you known me?" Lorelai questioned of him, which made him roll his eyes. "Has that ever stopped me before?"

Luke just rolled his eyes. "By the way," He turned part way around to grab a paper bag of muffins he had set aside to give to her, to pass along to Rory. "I made a batch of muffins for Rory." He handed the bag to her.

"Oh, that's so sweet of you, Luke."

Luke just shrugged, modestly. "Just thought I send her a batch since I know she likes them."

Lorelai smiled. "I'm sure it'll be much appreciated." Since she was on a short time frame, Lorelai had to leave to make the trip up to Yale in time before Rory started classes, taking both her coffee and the bag of muffins with her.

After the breakfast rush passed and the diner was cleaned, Luke and Shelby headed to the doctor's for her appointment. It was a short wait before Shelby's name was called. The nurse recorded her weight, height, and temperature before leading them into a small room, where she took Shelby's blood pressure. Once the nurse was finished with her routine, she left, letting them know the doctor would be in, shortly.

"Can I blow up a glove?" Shelby asked, pointing over at the box of rubber gloves the doctor had sitting on the counter.

"What? No, you can't blow up a glove," Luke told her.

"Why not? Jess did it when I had to 'tay in the ho'pital when I broke my arm."

"Shell, the doctor needs those to check patients," he explained to her. "What would happen if he needed a pair and there was only one left? They would have to rush to go get more."

Shelby frowned in disappointment. "They probably would get more when they're running low," she tried to point out.

Luke still told her no. "Speaking of," he said, changing the subject to combat her boredom, "how's Jess doing? You heard from him, lately?"

"Yeah, he called las' week."

"How's he doing?"

"Good. He says California is hot," she said.

"Well, I'm glad he's doing good." He was also glad the guy was keeping in touch with his cousin, as well. It was relieving to have some sort of communication to let him know Jess was okay and not dead in a ditch, somewhere. Even if it was just the bare minimum. Little was better than none.

The doctor came in after fifteen minutes and went through the procedure of Shelby's eight-year physical, including listening to her heart and lungs, and looking in her ears, eyes, and mouth. She also asked Shelby to lie back and pressed on parts of her sides and stomach, making sure nothing hurt, and checked the mobility of her legs, as well. When she was done, the doctor brought up a subject Luke wasn't expecting, asking if they noticed any signs of early puberty yet.

"I'm sorry?"

"Puberty. It can start as early as eight in girls," the doctor explained.

That was news to him since he swore his sister started showing signs around eleven or twelve. Not that he was trying to pay attention to his sister, changing. Living with a girl, one does notice those kinds of things, and become a lot more protective, especially when other boys noticed, too.

"So, have you noticed anything?"

"Like what?" he asked.

She then listed the signs, suddenly making Luke, very uncomfortable. He ended up having to turn to Shelby, who shook her head at the doctor.

Luke felt himself blow a breath of relief, silently to himself. "My sister was eleven or twelve when it hit her," he said.

"Puberty starting, can be hereditary, every person is different," she told him. "Plus, a child is more likely to take after the mother than an aunt." That, Luke had no clue since puberty and what can be passed on to a child was never a topic to be brought up during his and Rachel's time, together.

The doctor finished with the physical. Shelby was relieved her next yearly immunization wasn't until she was eleven. She was a couple inches above the average height for an eight-year-old, but the doctor didn't seem concerned about anything.

On the walk home, Shelby asked, "Dad, are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because you got nervous when the doctor brough' up puberty," she said.

"Well, stuff like…" He stumbled for words to say. "This is a new thing I'm not used to, you know?"

"Don' worry, Dad," Shelby assured him. "I asked Lor-lai like you told me to. I know wha's going to happen when I'm older."

"Well, uh, th-that's good." Hopefully, it doesn't happen for a while.

They headed back to the diner to open for lunch and to have lunch, themselves, before it was time to leave again.

During the lunch rush, Lorelai stopped by for lunch and coffee. Luke overheard her ask Shelby if she had been invited to Aaron Thompson's birthday party on Thursday since they were in the same grade. Luke had come over to refill Lorelai's cup at that point.

"Nope, and Ethan and Alan aren' invi'ed either," she answered while dipping her baby carrot in the cup of ranch that was sitting on her plate.

"How come?" Lorelai asked. "I figured you three would be, and would help me feel more at ease."

But Shelby shook her head at where she had bitten off a bite. "There's a war going on in our grade where some like _Lord of the Rings_ and everyone else likes _Harry Potter_ ," she explained. "I think i's 'tupid because you should be able to like whatever, but," she shrugged, "whatever." Shelby looked at the woman. "I don' even know wha' _Lord of the Rings_ is."

"Pretty sure it's another one of those books _Dungeons and Dragons_ nerds are into," said Luke.

"Says the Trekkie," Lorelai added, sarcastically.

Luke shot her a glare, knowing full well, she had him, cornered. " _I am_ … Not a Trekkie," he tried to counter with but lost confidence halfway through.

Lorelai returned her attention back to the kid. "Well, if you want, you can come as mine and Sookie's guest, and help us out if you want to go," she offered.

"Nah, i's okay," Shelby politely declined. "Besides, we don' wan' to be their friends or hang ou' with them if we have to like wha' they like."

Lorelai smiled at that. "Good call." She did end up inviting Shelby over to her house and renting _Lord of the Rings_ since Lorelai had to make costumes for the kids who were invited. "Ha!" Lorelai pointed a finger at Luke when Shelby accepted that invitation, reminding him of that morning of wanting to borrow her.

Luke just rolled his eyes. "Keep it up and I'll come up with an excuse to keep Shelby, home, tonight," he told her. "After all, it's technically my call on whether or not she can go anyway."

"Hey, Dad, don' I have tha' thing, tonigh'?" Shelby asked.

"What thing, Shell?"

"You know, tha' thing." Shelby then repeatedly started blinking her eye which was lost on Luke.

Luke gave her a puzzled look.

"You know, _that thing_." It took a moment to realize Shelby was trying to wink at him when it just looked like she had something in her eye which he did ask about. "That thing, Dad."

"Oooh," he said with a nod. "Right." Turning back to Lorelai, Luke told her, "yeah, there is a thing. We've had it planned for a while." Both of them was smirking, trying to contain a laugh or two.

"Ha ha." Lorelai took one last drink of her coffee before standing up, unamused to be on the receiving end this time instead of being the teaser. "On that note." She grabbed her purse and took out her wallet to leave what she owed for her meal. Before leaving, she asked, "Six-thirty, okay?"

"We should be back by then," Luke replied, still wearing his smirk.

"See'ya, kid," she told Shelby once Lorelai had put her wallet away again and headed for the door.

"See ya," Shelby returned with a wave.

Luke told Shelby to finish up because they would be leaving soon.

The night before, Rachel had called to let Luke know she was driving up to Providence, herself, because of another place she needed to be right afterwards and figured it would be easier to drive up there herself. So when it was time to head up to Providence, Luke and Shelby just left, leaving Caesar and John in charge while they were gone.

On the way, they worked out a time to get the new GameBoy Shelby had been saving for since she had enough. It also meant Shelby could start saving for the _Star Wars_ Lego set she wanted to get next. It was amazing how much this kid was willing to work already, and save her money over a long period of time to be able to have something she wanted. She even mentioned how it was even wearing off onto Ethan, who still wanted a GameCube of his own. Cheryl wasn't one hundred percent set on letting him have another game console when he and his brothers had two perfectly good ones already, but if he wanted to and understood how long it would take to earn and save, she was okay with it. Luke was especially proud his little buddy was being a good influence on her friends.

Rachel had beaten them there and was waiting in the waiting room when they got there.

Shelby waved but barely made any eye contact, looking elsewhere. It wasn't intentional as Luke knew holding eye contact wasn't easy for her.

"How was your week, Peanut?" he heard Rachel ask while signing them in.

Softly, she replied, "Good."

As soon as the woman sitting behind the desk told Luke she would let Lauren know they were there, he went over to take a seat in a chair across from where Rachel was sitting with the coffee table of magazines between them. Shelby moved to the chair next to him.

Rachel continued to try and have a conversation with Shelby. "Roger and I are going to paint each of the rooms in our new house. Is there a particular color or colors you would like for your room? We can paint it the same as your old room. If you still like camouflage colors."

Shelby nodded while staring at the floor.

"Roger has an idea to get those nets and hang them up in the corners, and I still have your comforter and sheets. We can make your room look like a base camp or something like that. What do you think?"

One shoulder moved upward, slightly.

"I just want to make sure you know you're always welcome and have somewhere else to call home, Peanut. You don't have to come over anytime soon. Whenever you are ready. Okay?"

She took a deep breath, letting it out through her nose, softly as Shelby continued to stare at the floor.

Rachel left things alone when Shelby didn't say anything else. Instead, Shelby scooted over in her chair and rested her head against Luke's arm, snuggling against it.

Luke stole a glance over at Rachel, who was leaning forward with her elbows near her knees as she stared at the floor. He wasn't even sure what to say or if he should say anything at all. Thankfully, the door opened and Lauren came out to greet them. All three stood up when they saw the woman, greeting her in return before following down the hall to her office, where they sat in the same chairs as the week before with Luke between mother and daughter.

Lauren closed the door once everyone was inside and took a seat across from Luke. "How is everyone, this week?" she asked, folding her hands on the table in front of her.

Both Luke and Rachel replied with, "Good," while Shelby sat there, quietly, with her arms folded on top of the other as she stared at a spot on the table.

"How about you, Miss Shelby?" Lauren asked the little girl. "Everything alright? It's okay to express however you feel," she added when Shelby hadn't responded.

Shelby chewed on her lip, biting on it.

"If you need to, you can tell your dad and he can tell us, or if you're not ready to share, that's okay, too."

Shelby looked over at him which Luke leaned forward so she could whisper whatever was on her mind and told him, the week was good and bad because of the family lunch not going as planned, Lorelai and Rory returning but then Rory having to leave again, and about their day they had on Sunday, and having enough money to finally buy her new GameBoy. He then passed it on to Lauren.

"Sounds like it was a roller coaster of a week, huh?"

Shelby looked between Lauren and her dad with her puzzled expression. So, Lauren explained what she meant by a roller coaster of a week, comparing a roller coaster to having a lot of ups and downs.

After she finished and Shelby understood, Rachel asked to say something. She looked over at their daughter. "Peanut, are you upset with me because I left lunch, early, last week?"

Shelby nodded, still trying to make eye contact with her mother. "Y-...you always leave," she said, softly.

Luke felt his eyes close, briefly as his head dropped a little. He reached over to give her arm a gentle squeeze.

"Peanut, it had nothing to do with you," Rachel tried to reassure her. "Your aunt and I got into a disagreement and I had to leave. I was frustrated and needed to get away before things got worse."

Shelby just continued to stare at nothing in particular towards the table. Her eyes were glossing over.

Rachel turned to ask Lauren, "That's good, isn't it? Stepping away from a situation?"

"Yes, stepping away is good," she agreed.

"See?" Rachel turned back to Shelby.

However, Lauren continued her thought. "It's also wise to let others know you're stepping away."

"I figured my sister would let everyone know," she gave a shrug.

"All she said was that you left and that you were calling Roger to come pick you up when I mentioned you had come with us," Luke said while comfortingly rubbed his thumb along Shelby's arm while still holding it. "And, that you were being you."

Rachel lifted her hands to drop her face against them as she let out a tired sigh.

Lauren pushed her chair back to stand up. She headed over to pull open a blue colored drawer, digging around until she found a deck of cards and returned to her seat. "Sounds like there are some mixed, untold stories. So, I think, for today, we should play a game of Feelings Go Fish," she told the family when Luke noticed they were regular playing cards.

When she opened the top flap and dropped the cards out into her other hand, Shelby patted Luke's arm.

He leaned forward again so she could tell him, if he could ask if she could shuffle them since Jess taught her, how. "Why don't you ask?" Luke gently encouraged the kid.

Lauren looked up from already starting to shuffle. "Ask me, what?"

Shelby hesitated, but Luke encouraged her some more. Softly, in a timid voice, she asked, "C-can I shuffle?"

Lauren had to lean over a little to make sure she heard, right. "Can you shuffle? You mean the cards?" She held them up.

Shelby timidly nodded.

She gave the kid a kind smile. "Sure you can." Lauren handed Shelby the cards. The adults then watched as the kid divided the deck in half, straightening them by tapping one on top of the other before fanning them together and then ended with the bridge. It wasn't perfect but still impressed the adults, including Luke. She repeated the process a second time.

"Where did you learn to do that from, Shelby?" Lauren asked.

Luke said nothing, encouraging Shelby to answer with a gentle nudge.

"My c'n," she replied, softly where Lauren had to lean in again to hear.

"Your cousin taught you how to shuffle?"

Shelby nodded.

Lauren smiled.

"He was teaching her how to play Poker, too," Rachel said, sounding as if she still did not approve. "For money."

Lauren looked at Rachel before turning back to Shelby. "Sounds like a fun cousin you have there," she said. "My grandfather used to teach me and my brother, growing up, along with Hearts and War. My grandfather would always come over and announce he had a pocket of quarters, and if anyone wanted to win some for ice cream."

Shelby looked up a little more confident, that time. "I won forty dollars, once," she said, still a little timid.

"Wow, the student surpassed the teacher, huh?" Lauren touched a hand to the kid's left arm, laughing in a harmless, playful manner.

She nodded. "He would win, too, though."

"It's only fair, right?"

Shelby nodded a second time.

"Can you count out seven cards between you, and your mom and dad?" Lauren pointed a finger between the three of them.

Shelby tossed out seven cards between her and her parent, also asking if Lauren was playing. Lauren assured she would be observing, but Shelby didn't want to leave her out. So, she joined in the game, after all.

Luke fanned out his cards to see his hand. On each card was a cut out square, taped with laminated tape of a face of a different emotion and the emotion underneath in words.

"Okay," Lauren began. "Going clockwise, everyone will take turns asking someone of their choosing for a particular card. For example, I may ask you," she pointed a hand towards him, "if you had any excited eights, and if you did, you would hand over one. Then I would share a time when I was excited or when something exciting happening. Or, if you didn't have any excited eights, then I would draw another card from the Go Fish pile." Lauren placed a hand on the edge of the deck Shelby had set in the middle of the table.

"What does treat mean?" asked Rachel. "Some of the cards say treat instead of a face."

Lauren scooted her chair back towards her desk to open one of the drawers. She took out a bag of candy, switching the bag to her other hand to pull out a few sheets of looked like stickers. Returning back to the table, Lauren set them in front of her on the table.

"You can choose a piece of candy or a sticker, or you can pass if you like," she added, holding a hand out between Luke and Rachel. "It's mostly for the kids, to help get them excited to play along."

Luke looked at the top sheet at the different colored happy faces. The candy was a standard bag of different Tootsie Roll candies and those small boxes of Dots. Neither looked appealing to the grumpy but kind-hearted guy. Speaking of being grumpy, he had received permission from Shelby, he could start wearing his blue hat again. The Grumpy hat he made sure to store, nicely with his other collection of baseball caps.

Lauren let Shelby go first.

Shelby tapped Luke on the arm to get his attention. "Dad, do you have any thankful threes?" she asked him.

"Uh," Luke looked over his cards before turning back to her. "Nope. Go fish." He gave her a kind smile.

Shelby reached towards the middle of the table and drew another card, adding it to her hand she also had fanned out.

Lauren turned to face her. "Shelby, do you have any surprised sevens?"

Shelby scanned her cards before pulling the card out and passing it to the lady, who thanked her.

She set the matched pair on the table in front of her. "So, since I have a pair I have to share a time when I was surprised." Lauren paused to think of an experience. "For Mother's day, my kids and husband surprised me with breakfast in bed."

The thought of eating in bed made Luke uncomfortable. Something spilling on the sheets or blankets, or getting scattered crumbs all over and missing some that would be found later, thus inviting unwanted, tiny critters into the bed.

Lauren gave the say for Rachel to go.

"Peanut," she directed towards Shelby, also. "Do you have any thankful threes?" Rachel asked, already knowing the answer.

Shelby's shoulders dropped and handed over the card she had asked her dad for which Rachel set the two cards on the table in front of her.

"And now you can share a time you were thankful," Lauren reminded her.

"Well, I was, and still am, thankful to be able to see you again, Shelby," Rachel told her, sincerely. "Really, I've missed you. I thought about you the whole time, pretty much."

Knowing how Shelby had felt, Luke could see the kid shift, uncomfortably in her seat.

They moved on, letting Luke go, asking Rachel for a king. He wasn't much up for sharing any emotions if Luke could prevent it. She then passed the card to him. Of course, Luke passed on the candy or sticker. Though, a small part of him briefly thought about getting one, knowing Lorelai loved candy but quickly shook the thought from his mind, as if he was crazy.

The group played a few rounds for the next thirty-six minutes. For the most part, it seemed like Shelby was avoiding asking Rachel. Thankfully, Rachel asked everyone equally, and everyone made sure to pay close attention in case someone mentioned a card they needed. Things seemed calm even with having to share experiences of different emotions. Soon, though, Shelby couldn't keep up with avoiding her mom when neither Luke nor Lauren had a card she had been trying to match for the last ten minutes.

Finally, Luke saw her chest move as it seemed like she was trying to work up the courage to say something, no doubt giving in to ask Rachel. Though, he couldn't help wonder why Rachel hadn't simply asked for it, since she did ask for the three after Shelby had asked him.

"Mom," Shelby finally managed to speak.

"Yes, Peanut?"

The kid's chest started to move a bit faster as Shelby hesitated some more.

Luke reached over to rub a soothing hand along her arm.

It helped as they heard her ask Rachel, "D-do you have...any…" She paused to swallow. "D-do you...have any...sad...si-xes?"

Rachel gave a kind smile. "I sure do," she replied and sure enough, passed her the card Shelby had been asking for.

At first, Shelby didn't take the card. She didn't even look up.

Luke tried to take it to pass to her, but he heard Lauren say his name and shook her head. So, he took his hand back and folded it back into his other arm. He then gently tapped the few cards Luke was holding in his hand on the table. Not to rush Shelby. Just as a way to pass the time. He encouraged her, at least, along with Lauren and Rachel.

After a minute, Shelby reluctantly reached out and took the card from her mom, setting it with her other matches. She set the one she had, down, on top of the card.

"Can you share a time you were sad?" Lauren asked in a gentle tone. "Or, something that makes you sad?"

They waited, giving Shelby all the time she needed. Luke made sure to point out about not looking in her direction, remembering back to when Shelby would still hide underneath her hat.

"Madison told me about that," Lauren noted with a nod, in a low voice, seeming interested and glad something had worked when all else had failed.

Shelby held her gaze on the table.

Another minute went by before Lauren made a suggestion. "If there's something that is hard for you to share, you can say something simple for now, like falling off your bike makes you sad. Or watching a sad movie makes you sad."

"Or, can she write it down? Sometimes, writing something out helps," Luke pointed out.

She nodded. "If she wants to. Would you like to write it down, Shelby?" Lauren turned back to her.

Shelby's head shook a little, from side to side. Taking a deep breath, and without looking up, she pointed a finger across the table in Rachel's direction.

It caught Rachel, off guard. "I make you sad, Peanut?"

Luke looked back at his little buddy to see her timidly nodding.

"You mean like you said, about being perfect around your mom?" Lauren asked when Shelby didn't answer.

That time, she did, nodding her head.

Rachel started to speak again until Lauren held up a finger, halfway up.

"Can I ask, what is it your mom says or does that make you feel like you have to be perfect?"

A lone tear drifted down her cheek as Shelby continued to stare at the table. She started chewing on her lip. Knowing that meant she wanted to say something, Luke started rubbing a comforting hand along her upper arm.

"Say whatever is on your mind, Peanut," Rachel reassured her. "That's what we're here for. If I said something to you, or did something that made you feel like you have to be perfect, I want to know. I honestly can't think of any particular time, but if I did, I would like to fix it if I can."

There was a pause to let Shelby speak if she was ready. Rachel was about to say more when she suddenly blurted out, "You're no' like Lor-lai!"

Rachel said nothing as she stared back at their daughter, both of them finally able to hold eye contact.

Remaining calm, Lauren asked, "How is your mom not like Lorelai?"

Shelby ended up shrinking back into herself.

"Hm?" She folded her arms on the table to lean closer to Shelby. "What is it that makes you feel like you have to be perfect with your mom that you don't feel with Lorelai?"

Without looking up, Shelby whimpered, "She doesn'..." She had to pause to swallow again. "Nicole, either."

"Who's Nicole?"

Shelby took a deep breath. "Dad's girlfriend."

"Your dad's girlfriend?"

She gave a timid nod.

"What about her?"

"She...She doesn' either."

"Make you feel like you have to be perfect?"

Shelby nodded once more. "Or Dad… Or J-Jess… Not e-e-even Aun' Becca." The kid sniffed in which alerted Lauren to grab a box of Kleenex that had lotion in the paper-thin cloth, pulling one out to offer to the kid. She took it, telling Lauren, thank you.

"You're welcome," Lauren assured her. "So, what is it that separates your mom from everyone else? What makes you feel perfect with her but not everyone else?" She let Shelby blow her nose before answering.

"I'm...I'm…"

"Take your time."

Luke told Shelby to take a deep breath and to let it out.

"W-whenever I'm at...Mom's...I'm," she rubbed her arm over her eyes and sniffed in again, "I'm always in t-trouble."

Out of the corner of his eye, Luke noticed Rachel's face change to a genuine confused look.

"You're always in trouble?" Lauren repeated as Shelby was still talking in a low voice.

She nodded.

"Peanut, when have I ever told you, you were in trouble?" Rachel asked. "I've never had to send you to your room. The only time I said you couldn't watch TV was when you had to work on your homework."

"May I?" Luke asked of Lauren.

"If it's okay with Shelby," she shrugged.

"Shell?" Luke asked for her say which Shelby nodded. "I wasn't aware of this up until a few months ago, but I believed it, because I remember you being a control freak when it comes to things being neat and clean."

Rachel shook her head as she shrugged.

"Shelby says you always got on her every time she slipped up with her shoes on the couch, or pushed her bike on the carpet, and would yell at her for it."

"I wasn't intentionally yelling," Rachel looked over at Shelby, "and you were never in trouble, Peanut. I was just giving you a reminder. I did feel frustrated having to constantly remind you, over and over, and my voice may have rose than I was intending it. But it's respectful to not have shoes that's been stepped in dirt, mud, and who knows what on furniture that's meant for sitting."

"I try no' to," Shelby told her mom.

She shrugged. "Obviously, not hard enough if I have to keep reminding you."

That did it. The look on the kid's face as fresh tears filled her eyes could basically shatter plexiglas. Shooting out of her chair, Shelby immediately jumped onto her dad and buried her face into his neck as she squeezed her arms around him.

Luke held his arms around his little buddy, feeling the moisture of tears on the side of his neck. He rubbed a comforting hand along her side.

"That came out harsher than I meant for it to," Rachel said in realization.

Luke still shot her a glare. "Shelby's one of the most hard-working kid I know," he told her, protectively. " _Everyone_ can see it, Rachel."

"But, how hard is it to not put your shoes on the couch, Luke?" she asked.

"A habit can be hard to break," Lauren spoke up, "especially when it's never been an issue for a long, long time, and it can be frustrating to have to keep reminding someone not do something. But, it can even eventually feel like nagging to the person doing it."

"I don't like having to constantly remind her to take her shoes off the couch, and I would think, not walking her bike on the carpet would be even easier to remember," Rachel said. "I don't want Shelby to perfect. In fact, I know she's not and I expect her to have a slip up, every once in a while, and she does listen when I remind her. We will be watching a movie, though, and ten minutes later, they're back on the couch and I have to tell her again."

"Like I said, habits are hard to break," she reiterated her previous statement, "and we'll subconsciously continue to do things we're trying hard not to do."

"After Shelby told me about the shoe thing, I started enforcing it at home to help," Luke pointed out.

"Maybe, if you feel strongly about shoes, maybe try leaving them at the front door when you walk in," Lauren suggested.

But Rachel shook her head. "I don't even like feet on the couch, period."

Lauren folded her hands together, except for both of her pointer fingers as if in thought.

"Listen," Rachel said, "if it helps, there are things I get on my husband about, too. It's not just Shelby. I just have little quirks about particular things I prefer to have a certain way. Is it a crime to want things clean?"

"No, it's not, and it's something we can certainly work on."

"Work on?" Rachel stared at the woman. "Work on what? I can't teach my daughter to be respectful of other people's property?"

"I'm not saying you can't teach your daughter to be respectful," Lauren corrected her, remaining calm. "It's good to teach respect to our kids. What I mean is, we can find ways that can help make the situation better for both you and Shelby. I still stand by the possibility of leaving shoes at the door before coming inside the house, and we can think of ways to help Shelby be aware of what she is doing. But Rachel, I feel there are things we can all work on, not just her."

"Like, what? The constant feeling like I'm always the bad guy?"

"Who says you're always the bad guy?"

"Every time I suggest something or try to enforce a rule and it gets back to Luke, he shoots it down." Luke looked away to let out an annoyed sigh.

"Give me an example," Lauren told her.

"Like when we were trying to get Shelby to be able to sleep over at my house, by letting her call him in the middle of the night when she's scared and we had to basically bribe her in order to help her to stay and face her fear," Rachel explained.

"It was a reward system, Rachel," Luke reminded her.

Lauren looked at her watch on her left wrist. "We are gonna have to call it there since I have another appointment after you. "But these are certainly things we can talk about over the next few sessions." She switched between the parents. "Okay?"

Both Luke and Rachel agreed. Anything to end this nonsense once and for all, in his opinion.

Lauren walked the three of them out to the waiting room while Luke carried Shelby in his arms, and said good-bye. Luke had made sure to collect the candy and stickers Shelby had collected from the game. Once next week's appointment was made, they headed outside.

"I'd point out Shelby being too old to still be carried but that'll probably make me a bad guy, too, probably." Luke ignored Rachel as he headed for his truck, unlocking it with the key before setting Shelby inside.

Shelby scooted over to her side so he could slide in.

A knock on Shelby's window spooked them, causing both her and Luke to jump out of their skin before they realized who it was. But at the moment, she couldn't even look at her mom. Reminding her to put on her seatbelt, Luke did the same as he started the truck. He waved Rachel off, making sure she stepped away so Luke could back out, and headed for home.

Glancing over, Luke watched as Shelby stared out her window, now that her mom wasn't there. He reached a hand over to playfully cup the top of her head. He wanted so badly to call the whole thing off and send Rachel away again. But, what would that solve?

Shelby looked over at him. "I really do try, Dad."

"I know you do, kiddo. Believe me, I know."

And, hopefully, Rachel will be able to see it, too.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Lorelai returned that evening around six-thirty like she promised she would. Having already picked up the movie from the rental store and seen how long the movie actually was, Lorelai suggested Shelby pack an overnight bag and said, she could bring her home in the morning. That is, if it was alright with her dad, making sure to ask him since he seemed appalled by the idea of borrowing his kid, teasing him some more about it.

Luke just gave her one of his annoyed looks reserved for the woman's teases. "Up to you, kiddo," he told Shelby.

"Of course," she replied, perking up at the idea.

"Just make sure Gexie is all taken care of for the night before you go."

"I will." After stating she would be back shortly, Shelby hurried upstairs to pack a bag and to make sure Gexie was taken care of.

Once the kid was gone, Lorelai turned back to Luke. "So, how'd it go, today?"

Luke looked away at nothing in particular, letting out a breath of air. "Could have gone better," he shrugged.

"Did something happen?"

He thought back to earlier during the session, unsure if Luke should say anything considering Lorelai's name was mentioned. In the end, all he could muster up was, "Rachel sort of made a comment about Shelby not trying hard enough because she has to keep reminding her to take her shoes off the couch."

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"Well, Rachel's always been…" He briefly paused to ponder on his wording. "Rachel likes things in a neat, simple way. Clean, pretty much. All the time. In fact, I used to like that about her because I like things a certain way," he explained. "I guess I never realized how bad it was until having a kid. Even though I like for the apartment to stay as clean as possible, I never really got strict with it. Or, Shelby just made more of an impact of mellowing me out about it than Rachel."

"Well, I don't know about that," Lorelai said, tilting her head a little. "You seem the same boring, monosyllable guy to me. If anything, you're having more of an impact on Shelby instead of the other way around." She laughed at him in a harmless, teasing matter.

"Regardless, Rachel's making Shelby feel like she has to be perfect whenever she stays over with her and pretty much broke her heart when Shelby tried to say she was trying. And I know she is. That kid is one of the most hardest-working kids I know. It breaks my heart just thinking about it."

The expression on Lorelai's face turned serious. "Oh, Luke, I'm so sorry," she said, giving some sympathy for the kid.

Luke scratched at his back with one hand. "I just hope Lauren can come up with a way to mend this relationship before it's too late and the kid decides to quit, herself, and decides she wants nothing to do with her mom."

"Take it from someone who's has a rocky relationship with their mother since childhood. I really hope so, too." Lorelai looked away, shaking her head. "Gosh, I never took to heart just what Rachel meant back then."

His head straightened at that. "What do you mean?"

"A while ago, back when Rachel had first returned, she had commented about Rory not being an annoying kid. Then she went on to say, she had thought about doing the whole mom thing if she could be guaranteed to have one just like her."

Luke couldn't believe what Lorelai had just told him as he stared at her. "Rachel said that?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean… I just thought she meant it in a lighthearted kind of way. I didn't think she would actually think that about her kid."

There was a short pause as the confession Lorelai gave sunk in. "Neither did I."

"I don't want to compare anything, but I fear Shelby's relationship with Rachel is gonna mirror my own relationship with my mother," she went on to add.

He muttered a "Yeah," as Luke stared at the counter.

"Let's hope this lady can help with that," she said in hopeful support.

Luke forced himself to glance up at her. "Me too." He was starting to have doubts whether or not Rachel really did want Shelby to be perfect. Of course, she probably did mean it, but wanting to be guaranteed for a kid to be a certain way was basically saying the kid should be perfect, and there was no such thing. Though, Luke did hate when there was annoying kids in public and was glad Shelby wasn't one of those kids, but to be that hard on one's own kid?

Changing the subject, Lorelai ordered food to go since she hadn't eaten yet. Luke also made food for Shelby to take with her. Before long, the kid had returned, holding one of their duffel bags, all ready to go. She assured him, Gexie had fresh mealworms and water, and suggested they clean her tank this week before school started on Monday. It actually helped prove his point of how responsible Shelby was and how hard she tried, putting a big smile on his face.

Kissing each other, good night, Shelby left with Lorelai when they had their food.

Luke watched through the window as the kid climbed into the front seat of Lorelai's jeep, waving when Shelby noticed and waved first.

Of course, the kid would end up having a great time over at Lorelai's, coming back the next morning happier than when she had left. It was relieving to know the woman could help cheer Shelby up. Though, it wasn't Lorelai's job, nor did she have to. The fact Lorelai was willing to help out his kid made Luke glad to have a friend like her.

Along with having a yearly physical, Shelby also had her six-month dentist appointment and was very proud of herself when the dentist told them she did not have any cavities. Luke was also extremely proud of his little buddy and was glad to see something else make her happy.

While Luke took his turn, Shelby took his chair and read to herself until he was done. It was another Jess had gotten for her before he left, called, _Matilda_. Afterwards, they went home to get Gexie for her appointment with the town's vet. Since her and Luke were having their check-ups, Shelby thought it was only fair if Gexie had one, too, to make sure she was healthy as a gecko should be. Luke tried to point out a small lizard did not need to be seen by a doctor, but lost when Shelby pointed out about Gexie being part of the family and her health was just as important. So, he called to ask if the town's veterinarian saw geckos and made the appointment the same day as their dentist appointments.

Needless to say, Luke had to pay the guy fifty bucks to hear him tell them, Gexie was a happy and healthy, little gecko. Since Gexie was Shelby's responsibly to take care of, he told her, the cost was coming out of her allowance to teach her about having expenses. Shelby was bummed about it but agreed it was fair since Gexie was hers and it was her idea to bring Gexie there.

Friday morning during the diner's downtime, Luke had to rush off to do some errands of his own, including getting the paperwork turned in for baseball that was to start in early September, wanting to get it in now since last time he forgot and missed the deadline. Between lunch and dinner, Luke and Shelby headed over to the park to play catch and get in some more practice.

Since summer was coming to a close, Shelby suggested renting movies and ordering pizza after the diner was closed for the night, Saturday. It ended up being a Japanese cartoon night when Shelby not only chose the newest _Pokemon_ movie that came out earlier that year, but some weird movie called, _Spirited Away_ which brought up several questions throughout the whole entire movie for Luke. Since _Spirited Away_ got most of Shelby's curiosity, they watched it first. There was a few scenes that did frighten her but Shelby pretty much held interest the whole time and by the end, loved it and wanted to check out the other similar movies she had seen at the rental store.

Halfway through, though, Shelby had to pause the movie after her dad kept asking questions. "Do we need to use Lor-lai and Rory's movie rules?" she asked, annoyed by her dad.

"They have rules?"

"No 'quishing during the movie," she listed on her left hand. "No talking during the movie, only very few to no di-trac-tions, like the moving around, no phone calls. No bathroom breaks either."

Luke stared at her at that. "You're not allowed to use the bathroom?"

Shelby shook her head. "No' during the movie. There's no pausing because you don't ge' the feel of the movie if you have to pause."

"You're kidding."

Again, she shook her head. "No' kidding. Tha's why I always make sure to go right before and only drink little as possible whenever we watch classic movies. _Lord of the Rings_ was okay to pause because it was a long movie."

"Remind me again why I let you go over there?" he asked, bewildered at the Gilmores' strange ways.

She shrugged. "I don' know."

"Just start it again," Luke nodded towards the TV, promising to keep the questions to a minimum.

Monday morning, Shelby awoke the same time her dad usually did, getting dressed in one of her new baseball jerseys and one of her new pairs of shorts. Luke got the diner ready while Shelby was getting ready but sat down to have breakfast with her.

Like she was the last three years, Shelby was still a little nervous even though she knew majority of the other kids by now. He made sure to help calm her nerves and reassure she would do fine.

As they had done for the first day of second grade, Luke snagged a picture of Shelby with her messenger bag slung over her head, behind her, and holding her lunch box, in front of the diner. Rachel had tried to call a couple times last week wanting to see how Shelby was doing but Shelby wasn't up for talking yet and denied her request when her mom asked if Rachel could come be there for her first day of third grade. Luke at least said he would get doubles when he develops the pictures.

For the first day, Luke offered to take Shelby to school, taking his truck. When they got there, there were kids already being dropped off by either their parents or the bus. This time, Shelby slid out on her side, pushing the door closed as Luke came around to her side.

"Ready?"

Shelby looked up at him then over towards the school where kids were heading inside the building. She looked back at him and nodded. They then headed over to head inside, as well. Truthfully, he was just as nervous about the first day just as Shelby was and this was his fourth first day of school. Shouldn't this be a piece of a cake by now? At least for him?

Once they got inside, they headed for the third grade hallway. The third grade hallway was still on the ground level with the kindergarten through second graders. This was actually Shelby's last year on the ground level since the fourth through sixth graders were upstairs. They ended up having to walk to the back of the building where Luke checked the class lists for Shelby's name, scanning down each list with his eyes. In the process, he happened to notice Alan was placed in a different class. He couldn't help wonder if those two have ever been apart before. Luke didn't have much experience knowing how twins worked, though despite Ethan and Alan being twins, the two were still completely different in some ways. Thankfully, Ethan would be in Shelby's class but poor Alan would be by himself.

"Looks like you and Ethan have," Luke glanced back at the list then looked back at Shelby, "Mrs. Sweeney."

"What about Alan?" she asked in a soft voice so only he heard.

"Looks like he got put into another class, kiddo." She gave him a heartbreaking look at the mention of one of her best friends being in another class all by himself. Having been in a different class in first grade, he knew Shelby understood how terrifying and lonely that can be. "Maybe this might be good for them," he said. "Time apart may help give them a break from each other."

"They have been fighting a lot more." Shelby seemed like she was agreeing, but still didn't seem to like the idea of her best friends being split up.

"Come on, kiddo. Let's go find your teacher." Luke led Shelby further down the hallway with his hand against the back of her head.

With it being closer to the time school starts, there was a teacher standing outside her classroom, writing something on a clipboard. She was tall and very thin. Her hair was very short and black with grey ends. Shelby quietly pointed out she reminded her of Aunt Petunia from _Harry Potter_.

They stopped a few feet away. "Uh, we're looking for Mrs. Sweeney's class," Luke politely said.

"That would be me," the lady replied in a serious, stern tone. She looked up towards Shelby to ask, "Name?"

"Shelby Danes," Luke answered for Shelby, who was holding onto his hand in a tight hold.

Mrs. Sweeney flipped to the front page of her clipboard and scanned the point of her pen before checking off Shelby's name. "Please go in and find your seat. The directions are on the board."

Luke exchanged a look with Shelby. When they both tried to enter the classroom, Mrs. Sweeney stopped them, stating she was only talking to Shelby. "I can't walk her to her desk?"

"This is third grade. She should be able to walk in on her own," she told them. "You can see where she sits at Parents' Night, tomorrow."

Luke exchanged another look with Shelby. Instead of arguing with the teacher, who looked like a woman Luke did not want to cross, he just offered a hug, good-bye, and exchanged kisses. Shelby then turned to head inside, waving at him.

As she passed Mrs. Sweeney timidly, staring towards the floor, the lady spoke up again. "Please remove the hat. Hats are for the playground only, not inside the classroom."

Shelby looked back at her dad, who gave her a nod to comply. It looked like the kid had another teacher who was strict on the rules. Thankfully, Shelby was more confident than she was in kindergarten. So, she was able to willingly remove it as Shelby made her way inside the classroom to find her seat.

Before he left, Luke made sure to point out Shelby's anxiety. Clapping the side of his fist against his other palm softly, he said, "Uh, Shelby meets with the speech therapist, here." He paused to swallow. "For some of her sounds and for her mutism. It's hard for her to speak up in uncomfortable settings like school."

Mrs. Sweeney finished whatever she was writing and held the edge of the clipboard against her front as she looked up at him. "I've had shy kids in my class before. I will work more with her, individually as we get more into the school year and have spoken with the speech therapist. Until then, I have to grade her the same way as everyone else."

"So…?" Luke pointed at the floor. "You won't pass her until then?"

"If she doesn't participate in class, yes," she nodded. "To me, it just sounds like you're asking for special treatment for your child which I have gotten my fair of from parents over the years." With that said, Mrs. Sweeney dismissed him, stating he was blocking the doorway when more kids arrived.

Stealing one last look into the classroom, Luke noticed Shelby was sitting in the second row from the door, towards the back of the room. Her bag was propped against the leg of her desk. Since her lunch box was nowhere in sight, he assumed it was propped against the other side of her bag. Shelby had her hat hanging off the back of her chair.

Shelby had gotten out a pencil and was writing in a black and white composition notebook everyone had sitting on their desk. Luke gave a short whistle to get her attention and waved one last time which she waved back. He then forced himself to walk away.

Luke spent most of the day working at the diner, of course, keeping himself busy. He could not wait for school to let out that afternoon so he could hear all about how Shelby's first day went.

Lorelai stopped by for coffee and lunch. "So, how'd it go this morning?" she asked, eagerly.

"It went okay. Shell's in the same class as at least one of the twins," he said with a shrug.

She looked surprised. "They split up the boys?"

"Guess so. I told Shelby, it might actually be good for them since I can see they're starting to have their own personality from each other and some time apart would do them some good."

Lorelai had taken a drink while she was listening. "Time apart is always good," she agreed with a shrug. "Did Shelby get Mrs. Laurel? Rory absolutely adored her when she was in the third grade."

Luke went over to a nearby table to clear it. "She got Mrs. Sweeney. Her and Ethan. I think I saw Alan got her, though."

Lorelai gasped when he told her who Shelby had gotten this school year.

He carried the dishes over to set inside the dish tub to be washed. He looked back over his shoulder. "What?"

"Shelby got that teacher?" she questioned in horror, like Luke had told her, Shelby had Freddie Krueger for a teacher, or something.

"Yeah, why? What's wrong with Mrs. Sweeney?"

"Rory may not have had her but Lane did. Mrs. Sweeney is the strictest and toughest teacher in the whole school. Mrs. Kim approves of her."

Luke raised an eyebrow at that. "Mrs. Kim scares Shelby. She once tried to give us a lecture about how Pikachu was actually the devil."

Lorelai stared at him, blinking. "How can that cute, little, yellow thing be compared to the devil?"

He just gave a long shrug. "Not sure, but it caused her to ask Reverend Skinner the next time he stopped by here for lunch. Thankfully, he helped set her mind at ease. Now, Shelby tries to avoid Mrs. Kim as much as possible."

"Jeez, can't that kid ever catch a break?" Lorelai asked

He gave a slight shrug. "Occasionally."

"Well, I guess it's like that old saying. What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."

Luke picked up the stack of orders he had set on the counter next to the register, to go through them. He stared over at the woman. "Yes, that's very comforting to hear about your kid," he told her in a sarcastic tone.

"Well," she shrugged. "It may not be pleasant to hear but it's the way it is."

Luke began looking over the orders from that morning, placing one behind the other. He couldn't help think of the life that his little buddy has been dealt with since the day she was born. Since even before she was born. It made him think back to his own childhood and how things were tough for him, his sister, and father, especially after his mother passed away. Guess, nothing comes easy in their family.

Lorelai interrupted his thoughts. "You alright there?"

"Huh?" He stared up at her, slightly out of it.

"You look like you were thinking about something. Everything okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, everything's fine." Luke rubbed the side of his hand against his forehead while staring at the order he had stopped on. "Just got a lot on my mind, what with having to run the diner and other stuff. I'll be fine, though."

She gave him a sympathetic smile. "You sure?"

The smile made him smile in return. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Hey, since you have your hands full here, and since I have some time this afternoon, how about I go pick up Shelby for you?"

Luke brushed her off, modestly. "Oh, you don't have to do that. I told her I would pick her up for the first day."

"I know but I want to. What with Rory being in college and all, I miss being able to pick up a kid from school," she assured him.

"You sure?"

"Positive," she answered with a grin.

"Alright then. That would be great, thanks."

"My pleasure." That said, Lorelai finished her lunch and coffee before having to leave to take care of some errands before the elementary school dismissed.

It was a good thing she offered, too, because the diner ended up getting extremely busy over the course of the afternoon. Luke was constantly running around, making sure everyone's needs were being met. By the time Shelby usually got home from school, he hadn't even noticed she had walked in. Which was a good thing since it took his mind off of worrying whether or not the kid had a good first day or a bad first day.

Luke had his hands full of plates when he noticed Shelby there. A smile appeared immediately on his face. Finding the table the plates went to, he set them down and made sure there wasn't anything else they needed before hurrying back over.

"Hey, kiddo." Luke wrapped his arms around the kid's head. "How'd it go?" He leaned over so she could speak softly into his ear.

"It wen' okay," she replied.

"Yeah? Everything went smoothly the rest of the day?"

Shelby paused to think on it before nodding. They decided to wait until later to finish talking which she offered to help out, dropping her stuff off upstairs before returning. Shelby took care of the customers she knew, and helped bring out customers' orders to them, and cleared tables when they were through, for the next ones.

The busyness ended up lasting all through the dinner rush. The diner finally began to clear up and settle down around seven that evening. It had been so chaotic that Luke hadn't realized Shelby hadn't even taken a break halfway through like she was supposed to. So, he made sure she was done for the day. While Shelby headed upstairs to shower and get ready for bed, Luke remained downstairs and helped close down the diner. Of course there was still a few stragglers that came in for a bite to eat, he allowed in.

By eight-thirty, though, Luke finally closed, and sent Caesar and John home. Making sure all the lights were off, including the stove, Luke locked up and headed upstairs where Shelby was relaxing on the couch, playing her _Pokemon_ game on her new _GameBoy_ she had finally been able to buy with the money she earned and saved. Unlike her old one, this _GameBoy_ had hinges that could be folded and the screen lit up like a TV, which Luke already caught her playing at night when Shelby was supposed to be asleep and had to threaten to take it away if she didn't turn the _GameBoy_ off and go to sleep. Who thought it was a good idea to make it useable in the dark anyway?

"Any requests for dinner, Shell?" he called over to her as Luke headed over to the kitchen.

Without looking up from her game, she replied, "Um...something quick. I'm really hungry." He noticed Gexie was curled up on her shoulder.

Luke opened both the freezer and the fridge. Afterwards, he looked in the cupboard where they kept the dry food. "How about I make us some simple spaghetti?"

"Okay," she agreed.

So, Luke got out a large pot and the noodles, filling the pot up with water and letting it heat up first before dropping the noodles in.

"So, you liking third grade already? Or is it too soon to tell?" he called over, wanting to hear more about her day, now that they had the time to chat.

Shelby rolled over to prop herself up onto her elbows, being careful of the little gecko, who moved to the back of her shoulder. "I don't know." He saw her shrug. "Mrs. Sweeney sounds really tough."

"How so?" Luke couldn't help think of what Lorelai had mentioned about Mrs. Sweeney and about Mrs. Kim approving of her.

"We have to keep the class rules inside our binders she gave us and gave us our only warning to follow them. If we don', we ge' detention. If we talk in class when we're no' supposed to, tha's a detention. If we don' have our homework the nex' day, tha's a detention. If we bring anything to school and have it ou' during class, she takes it and tha's another detention, plus our paren's have to come pick it up on Fridays."

"Sounds like this teacher doesn't mess around," he noted.

Shelby twisted her legs where they crossed at the ankles while still playing her game. "Mrs. Sweeney also says she only helps you enough to where you can find the answer on your own." She looked up at him. "Like, we can raise our hand and ask questions, bu' she won' jus' give you the answer. She'll walk us through the 'teps and make it a little more clear for you, bu' you still have to figure it ou' on your own."

"I'm sure you'll do fine." Luke dumped the noodles inside the now boiling water.

"Yeah, I know. Mr. Harris kind of did tha' too. Bu' he didn' seem as tough as Mrs. Sweeney does," she said, sounding a little nervous.

"How is Ethan and Alan taking not being in the same class?"

"They were sad a' firs', bu' Alan said he was able to mee' some nice kids in his class. One even a'e with us a' lunchtime, named Max."

Luke smiled over Shelby. "So, you made a new friend?"

"Seems like it. Alan explained to him how it takes me a while to talk to new people and Max seems okay abou' it and we all played a game of baske'ball since we finally had four players."

"That's great," he told her, happily. "Did you win?"

"No, we los' by a point. Max is a good player too and he and Alan bea' me and Ethan."

While the noodles were cooking, Luke decided to heat up a few pieces of garlic bread in the oven. "Well, you can't win them all," he shrugged as he slid the pan into the oven and closed the oven door. Luke then set the timer for fifteen minutes. "Right?"

"Right," Shelby repeated with a nod.

Time went by while Luke was checking on the noodles, stirring them around with the large spoon he was using and while Shelby played her game. There was a point when Shelby mentioned, liking a lot of the new _Pokemon_ that were in the game and that the game let's the player play as a girl. Another plus was that one of the starter _Pokemon_ was a gecko which she of course had to nickname, Gexie. Alan actually ended up getting the new _GameBoy_ for his birthday because his old one broke, and has to share it with Ethan since his old one still worked. So, Shelby still could be able to battle and trade with her friends and all three could still keep up with the new _Pokemon_ at least. Luke, being an adult, did not understand why they kept adding new _Pokemon_ every couple years or so, other than to make money off of children's parents. Though, Shelby pointed out Nintendo wasn't making money off of him since she bought her own game, herself.

"It's still the principle," he stated.

Shelby just rolled her eyes as she snickered at her dad.

"Hey, you laughing at me?" he asked of her.

"May-be," she said, slowly before snickering some more.

Letting the food finish cooking, Luke made his way over to the couch, pinning a knee into the cushion. He then ambushed the little girl, getting her back for laughing at him with a series of tickles. He at least made sure Gexie wouldn't be smashed in the process, who climbed up the back of the couch. Shelby tried to slip away but wasn't fast enough and was pinned down while her dad tickled her to death. She laughed out loud. In between laughs, she would try and plead with him to stop. As soon as Luke felt the kid had, had enough, he stopped, letting her catch her breath.

While Shelby was catching her breath, her eyes locked onto his and the two shared a smile.

"No fair, Dad," she informed him with a fake glare.

This time, Luke snickered.

Once dinner was cooked, he told Shelby to put Gexie back inside her tank and to wash her hands so they could sit down and eat. During dinner, Luke asked more about her day and went through her binder with her since there were things for him to sign. Everything would also be gone over during Parents' Night, but Luke hasn't actually gone to any of those since having a kid in school. Being in a room with other parents, who would no doubt try and persuade him to participate in PTA meetings and bake sales, did not sound like fun to him. So, Luke just read through everything on his own and if he had any questions, he would just go ask Mrs. Sweeney, later, on his own. Hopefully, at least.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Both of them woke up around the same time as the day before. Like they did the first day, Luke opened the diner while Shelby got ready for school. Lorelai came by for breakfast on her way to Yale to see Rory before classes started while Shelby was sitting at the counter, eating her breakfast. She asked if Shelby was ready for her second day as a third grader which somehow led to Lorelai finding out Luke had no plans to attend Parents' Night, nor had he ever gone. Lorelai seemed appalled, and went on a rant about being involved in his daughter's education.

"Didn't you get called in for not participating at Chilton?" Luke pointed out.

Lorelai tried to skirt around at being called out. "Yes, but that was Chilton. I helped out while Rory was going to school, here where it was more fun."

Luke still wasn't convinced. "Shelby's success in school does not have any effect on whether or not I go to Parents' Night when everything that will be discussed is already in the paperwork that was sent home on the first day. I signed what needed to be signed and Shelby can take it to her teacher. If any questions come up, I can either call the school or go down there, myself. It does not need a special appearance with other parents who will badger me about joining PTA meetings and bake sales."

Lorelai just rolled her eyes at his stubbornness. "Come on, Luke. There'll be cookies, and brownies, and coffee for the parents."

"Oh, now you've sold me," he told her, sarcastically. She still tried to convince him to go, using every trick in the book she clearly wrote until finally he said, "look, if it's that big of a deal, I can bring it up to Rachel when we see her this afternoon, and she can go if she wants since she missed yesterday. Would that be okay?"

Lorelai let out a huff. "Fine. I guess that seems fair." It was a relief she had given in. He could tell Lorelai wasn't completely satisfied, but at least someone would be going. That's what counts, right?

When Lorelai finished her breakfast, she offered Shelby a ride to school on her way to Yale. Luke reminded Shelby, he would be picking her up early from school, around one, before kissing each other, good-bye.

Later, Luke opened for lunch, for a couple hours, before closing up while he would be gone, and headed up to the school to sign Shelby out, early like he said he would. About ten minutes later, Shelby appeared, all packed and ready with her bag and lunch box. They headed out to where Luke had parked out front.

On the way out of town, Luke asked how her second day went. Since the first day was all about learning the rules and getting to know everyone, for the second day, Mrs. Sweeney jumped right into work and gave out a practice test to see how much the students remembered from second grade. It was mainly to see how much they would need to review before jumping into the first unit of third grade math.

"We weren' being graded on it, so she told us no' to 'tress if we didn' know an answer," Shelby explained.

"How do you think you did?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I think I did okay. We won' know until tomorrow. We also 'tar'ed on our firs' repor' of the year. We have to wri'e all abou' us, then on Thursday when we have computer lab, we're gonna type it up as our final draf'."

"Sounds like you had a long, full day." Luke smiled over at her.

"Oh, yeah. Lo's of work," she said in agreement.

"Have you heard from Ms. Kelly yet?"

Shelby shook her head. "Las' year, I didn't hear from her until the second week of school."

"So, you think it'll be the same, this year?"

"Maybe," she shrugged again.

The two continued talking all through the whole trip. Shelby ended up admitting that Mrs. Sweeney wasn't so bad. As long as the students followed the rules and did what was expected, she was actually really nice. She even kept a container of Red Vines on her desk she would pass out for either a mid morning snack or for answering a question, correct. Ethan's seat was a few rows from Shelby, which probably was a good thing considering even Shelby got in trouble for talking with him, in second grade.

Eventually, they got to Providence's city limits and Luke pulled into the parking lot of Lauren's office, twenty minutes later.

Rachel was still sitting in her car, talking on the phone when they were walking up to the building. Since the windows were up and the car was still running, Luke couldn't hear what she was saying. She waved a hand at them as they walked by which both him and Shelby waved back.

They met her inside where Luke signed them in.

Rachel finally joined them. "Hey, sorry about that. My boss has been wanting to give me another assignment for the past few weeks but I told him I was taking time off."

"Sorry we're cutting into work." Really, Luke wasn't sorry and made sure his voice showed it.

Rachel took a deep breath, letting it out. "I'm choosing to take time off, Luke. I want to take all the time I need for Shelby. Can you please just give me the benefit of the doubt?"

He did the same, letting out a breath of air. "Yeah, of course. I'm sorry," he told her, really sincere this time.

"Thank you," she said. "Really, I mean it. I really do want to put Shelby first while we get this sorted out."

Luke nodded in assurance. He really hoped things could get better for them. "And, uh, hey. Since you missed yesterday and all of the tons of stuff Shelby brought home from school, if you wanted to, that is. There is a Parents' Night for all of the parents to come and ask questions and go over everything." There was a long pause as they looked at each other. "There'll be dessert and coffee. For the parents, I mean. I don't think they're serve coffee to the kids." Luke forced a laugh.

Rachel forced one, too. "No, that probably wouldn't be a good idea." Thankfully, a smile appeared between the both of them, seeming like it wasn't forced this time. Looking from him over to their daughter, who was still reading _Matilda_. Though, the kid enjoyed reading like her cousin, Shelby wasn't as fast as he was.

"Hey, peanut," she greeted, getting Shelby's attention. "What's that you're reading?"

Lifting the book she was holding in her hands, Shelby showed her mom, the cover.

" _Matilda_ ," Rachel read. "What's the book about?"

"A girl tha's really smar' and has powers," was all Shelby said, softly.

Rachel nodded with interest. "Is it good?"

"Sure," she replied. "Her family is mean and so is the principal. Bu' the teacher, Miss Honey is really nice."

"With a name like Miss Honey, you probably should be sweet, huh?" Rachel smiled for her.

Shelby just gave a short shrug.

Rachel was leaning forward with her forearms on her legs. She looked at the floor for a moment before asking, "How are you liking school?"

"I's okay." Before Rachel could ask for more insight, Lauren came out from the door, greeting them. All three stood up, returning the greeting before they all headed down the hall to Lauren's office.

Lauren also asked how school was going when she asked how everyone's week has been. Shelby held a thumb's up in response and Luke had to pass on, "the verbal thing comes and goes," knowing well where she had gotten the way she said that, from.

"So," Lauren said, starting the session, "I thought, since we ran out of time, last time, we can continue our discussion about the whole 'shoe' issue, and share more concerns so that we can come to a solution. What do you think?" She looked between Luke and Rachel, who both nodded in agreement as they responded.

"What about you, Shelby?" Lauren turned towards the youngest in the room. "Does that sound like a plan?" She also added, "I know we've been playing games since we started, but I thought it would be nice to get sit and talk. Maybe we can get out the play-dough."

Shelby nodded at the idea of playing with play-dough while staring at the cover of her book.

Lauren stood up from the table to head over to the shelf of toys. She pulled a plastic, rectangular container from the second shelf that was missing its lid. Fully packed was several containers of different colored play-dough. Asking Shelby if she had a color preference, she grabbed the one with a green lid, along with yellow and blue, bringing them back to the table.

"Here you go," she set the one with the green lid in front of Shelby, who took it and pulled the lid off and dumped the green-colored play-dough into her left hand. The other two, she offered to Rachel and Luke.

Rachel thanked her, taking the yellow one while Luke declined.

"Are you sure? Playing with play-dough can be very therapeutic," Lauren encouraged. Rachel had also taken the top off and dumped the yellow-colored dough into her hand and started kneading it between her left and right hands as Shelby had been doing.

"That's okay," he waved a hand through the air in front of him. "I knead plenty of dough at the diner."

Lauren honored his wishes but left the play-dough in the center of the table in case Luke changed his mind. Shelby tried to reach for it until Lauren told her, she didn't want the colors mixed together and the kid resumed playing with the green one without a word.

"So, where we last left off, Shelby had informed us why she feels she has to be perfect with you, and about being told several times of taking her shoes off the couch," she continued. "Correct?"

Rachel was the one to respond. "Correct," she nodded.

Luke picked his hands up from his lap and folded his arms as he listened, slouching a little in his seat as he stared at the table.

"I also suggested leaving all shoes at the door, because, even if Shelby forgets, dirt that our shoes collect, won't get on the couch. In fact, I usually have our family always have socks or slippers on while we're home. Would you be willing to try that, at least, Rachel? I know you have an issue with feet in general but it'll lessen how much dirt and stuff gets inside your home."

"Actually, I had spoken with my husband about the issue later that night, and he came up with the suggestion of taking away a day of video games each time Shelby needs to be reminded. Taking away something she loves doing might be an incentive to help her be aware of what she's doing," Rachel said.

Luke's head shot up and over at Rachel. "Wait," he interrupted before Lauren could respond. "Isn't what we talk about here supposed to be kept confidential?" Though, technically he did do the same thing when he shared with Lorelai that same night.

"Roger already knew from before we started doing this, Luke," she told him. "It wasn't anything new."

"Still," he tried to press further. "He shouldn't be involved in any of this."

Rachel shook her head at the table. "So, you're once again shooting down another possible suggestion and making me, and now Roger, a bad guy?"

"You can make suggestions, just not him," Luke plainly shrugged off.

Lauren stepped in to referee the argument. "First thing's first, yes, what is said here, stays here. It shouldn't be shared outside this room unless everyone is in agreement."

Rachel apologized first and promised not to share anything from then on.

Luke hesitated a little but agreed too, which meant no more sharing anything with Lorelai either.

"I do think taking away video games can be a good way to help Shelby become more aware and eventually learn to break the habit," Lauren continued. "If that's what she really enjoys doing then using it as an incentive could work."

"And I am willing to keep all shoes at the front door," Rachel added.

Luke looked over to see how Shelby was taking the suggestion. Having grounded her from video games, himself, he has seen it has helped. But using it to break a habit? It would technically be like rewarding her for staying over at Rachel's.

"In fact, my husband and I have already started doing it, ourselves."

"That's good to hear." Lauren switched to Luke and Shelby. "What do you think? I can understand if there's some tension between you," she pointed a hand at Luke, "and Roger, I really do feel it's a good way to help Shelby break away from the habit. Usually, using incentives can help motivate a child."

Luke rubbed a hand against the back of his head, over his hat, looking off to the side at the floor. "Yeah, I guess so. I've had to ground her from the video games before and it seemed to work."

Lauren turned to Shelby, last. "What about you, Shelby?"

Luke looked at his little buddy again to see tears starting to fill her eyes.

Rachel leaned more on her arms, still kneading her own play-dough. "You said you were trying, peanut. Maybe this will help show me you are."

Shelby turned away in her seat and sat sideways, now squeezing her play-dough.

Taking in a deep breath, first, Luke was about to say something to Shelby when he heard Lauren speak first.

"I know it doesn't seem fair, Shelby, but we all have to keep an open mind to any suggestions made during our sessions. We can't disregard something just because we don't want to do them or something seems hard." Lauren watched Shelby, who sat there, staring at the floor, aggressively smashing the play-dough in her hand as a tear drifted gently down the side of her face.

It was hard to see his little buddy upset. Luke didn't like having to take away her video games either, but knew she was always fine when he did.

Pushing out his chair from the table, he scooted closer to Shelby and leaned forward with his forearms on his legs. "Listen, kiddo, I know this is hard for you and all, but I think maybe your mom and, as much as it kills me, Roger, and Lauren might be right. I certainly got nothing and if it does help in the long run then it would be a good thing, right?"

Shelby continued staring at nothing.

"Plus, you know you've never gotten mad at me when I had to ground you from video games, and don't you want to have a better time with your mom?"

She didn't answer. Not at first anyway but after a moment, Shelby nodded her head, slightly.

"I promise you'll live without video games for a day or two. You've done it plenty of times." Luke smiled for his little buddy to help cheer her up.

"What's going through your mind right now, Shelby?" Lauren asked with sympathy. "Can you share with us, your thoughts?"

Luke moved his head closer so she could whisper to him. "You can tell me, kiddo," he reminded her.

Shelby sucked in her lower lip to suck on it.

He reached a hand over to rub her side. "It's okay, Shell."

"You can say whatever is on your mind," Lauren assured her, as well. "There is no such thing as a stupid question, nor are there wrong answers, here. This is a safe place to scream or yell if you have to."

Luke continued to rub her side up and down in a comforting way. "You got this, kiddo," he cheered her on. She started to say something but it came out in quiet mumbles. He moved his ear closer to her mouth.

"What?" Luke asked gently.

"If shoes aren' allowed, how come I 'till can' have my fee' on the couch?" she whispered to him. Luke then passed the question onto the women.

"Because, peanut, I don't want feet on the furniture at all," Rachel answered. "Couches weren't meant for our feet. They were meant for sitting flat on our bottoms."

"Lots of people prefer not having feet on their furniture," Lauren also said. "It's not just your mom. In some cases, it can even be a sign of disrespect towards the person."

Shelby hesitated before she whispered to her dad again.

"She says she does respect you," he passed on.

"That's great, peanut, but that also means respecting my rules. I don't ask much of you other than keeping feet down, not bringing your bike inside unless an adult carries it in for you, and now that I have a garage, that won't even be an issue. I'd also would prefer your scooter stays out there, as well."

"Nicole doesn'," Luke heard Shelby whisper.

"Nicole doesn't, what, kiddo?" he asked her.

She hesitated some more which Luke encouraged her to tell him. "Nicole didn' care as long as I wasn' wearing my shoes."

"That was Nicole's choice, Shell. Not everyone has the same feelings about a particular way they run their household," Luke explained. "Nicole was willing to be more lenient with you. Everyone has their own limits, some more than others, and that's okay." He shrugged.

"I'm not trying to expect more of you than you can handle. It's proper etiquette and I really like to keep the couches in nicer conditions for a long time. I'm sorry I keep having to nag you about it. I don't like having to, myself, nor do I like having to use an incentive." Rachel rolled the dough around against her hands, switching between the dough and Shelby. "None of it is to be mean, it's just a part of life, peanut."

Luke looked from Rachel, back towards his little buddy. He moved his hand along her back to the back of her neck and touched his forehead to the side of hers. "I know, kiddo. Your mom's right, though. Life isn't always fair, unfortunately."

"I love you, peanut," she added. "I want to make sure you know that. I always have. I may not be as cool as Lorelai but I still like to have fun. I'd love to take you hiking with Roger and I, and do other exciting stuff like that. I don't want something like this being the thing that keeps us from having a relationship with each other."

"Is there any suggestions you can think of that might help?" Lauren decided to ask Shelby for her input.

Shelby gave a quick shrug.

"Nothing at all?"

They gave Shelby some time to think which Luke resumed rubbing a comforting hand along her side.

"You always have great ideas," he reminded her.

But she just shrugged some more. When Luke saw her mumble something, he lowered his ear for her. "I won' si' on the couch a' Mom's house."

"Come on, Shell," Luke said got a little firm but still kept it lighthearted with his little buddy. "You can't just give up just because something's hard. I think you can do this. In fact, I know you can. You've accomplished so much since we met. Remember when talking to me was hard, and not being able to sleep in your own room at your mom's? You thought you couldn't and now look at ya. You're singing for the town at town meetings and staying home alone when I have to go somewhere."

Shelby managed to finally look up at her dad at that.

He smiled for her. "I know things don't come easy for you but I also know how much of a hard-worker you are. Yes, you may lose your video games a few times and yes it's especially hard when you just got your new _GameBoy_ after you've spent the last several months saving up for it after finding out your old one doesn't play the new games. That's just the way it is." Luke tilted his head down to look up at her. "Okay?"

She raised her arm to wipe her eyes on it.

"You can do this, kiddo, I know you can."

At that, Shelby nodded. "Okay, Daddy," she whispered.

It made him smile. "Atta girl," he praised.

Shelby turned her head to nod over at Lauren but avoided eye contact with Rachel. She did nod in her direction, at least.

"And, if it'll help, a warning or two before taking away the video games might help as a reminder, as well," Lauren pointed out, looking between Rachel and Shelby.

"Yeah, that sounds reasonable," Rachel agreed. "Right, Shelby?"

Shelby stole a look with her dad before nodding at her lap.

"How often does Shelby stay with you," Lauren asked of Rachel.

"Um, well...," Rachel paused for a moment, exchanging a look with Luke, "we usually do every weekend to every other weekend. But, Shelby hasn't been over since I've been back."

Lauren folded her hands on the table. "Why don't we try this, then. I am going to assign homework for this week and have Shelby spend this weekend at your home, to give it another go. Would that be alright with you?" She looked around at all three of them.

"I would love to have Shelby over and show her the new house. We got the house all unpacked and settled in, and just finished her room. My brother came over and painted it like he did the first time, and I think you're gonna like it." Rachel then added, "I hope," with a hopeful smile towards Shelby.

"I can take you there, Friday after school and pick you up, Sunday evening," Luke told her, encouragingly. "And will make sure Gexie is taken care of while you're gone."

"We can also get a tank for your room if you wanted to bring Gexie with you," Rachel suggested. "Roger wants to get one of his own, now since I told him about your little friend."

Shelby automatically said, "Leopard geckos can' be in the same tank with other leopard geckos."

"Well, I'm sure we can keep them apart if he does, and I held off getting a cat so you can come with us, like I promised we would. Remember that, peanut?" Rachel tilted her head to look directly at her.

Shelby nodded.

"Can we try this weekend, peanut?"

Shelby hesitated, chewing on her lip.

Lauren jumped in again, leaning towards Shelby. "If we want to move forward with progress, we're gonna have to do this, you know?" She told her in a gentle tone and gave the kid a minute before asking, "you do want to have a better relationship with your mom, right?"

Shelby nodded some more.

"Then we have to put what we discuss into action. It's okay to be nervous but if we let the fear overcome us, then we won't be able to do the things we want to do," she explained. "It just for the weekend. That's two days. That's not so bad, is it?"

Shelby shook her head this time.

"So, what do you think? Can we try it this weekend?"

Shelby finally looked up again and nodded. She still couldn't look at her mom, though. Not because she was mad, but because eye contact wasn't that simple at times.

"Alrighty, then. That'll be the homework for the week and we can talk about how it goes next week. How's that sound?" She looked between Rachel, Luke, and Shelby.

"Sounds good to me," Rachel said.

"Sure," Luke shrugged, now sitting up again.

Shelby hesitated but nodded, nervously.

Looking at her watch, Lauren called the end of the session, there. "And, if it doesn't work, we can come up with another solution, next week," she added to help reassure Shelby. "Okay?" she asked of the kid.

Shelby nodded once more at her.

Once the play-dough was put away, Lauren walked them out to the waiting room so they could schedule for next week's appointment. The three of them then left to walk out to the parking lot together.

"You feel okay," Rachel asked Shelby as they walked down the sidewalk.

Shelby was staring at the sidewalk in front of her as she walked while holding her book in her left hand.

When they got to the edge of the sidewalk, Rachel held an arm out to block her and turned to fully face Shelby.

"Is it okay if I go to Parents' Night and meet your teacher, tonight?" she asked. "I'd like to, but if you don't want me to, I won't go."

Shelby held a shrug for a moment. "Sure," she muttered out loud but still softly.

"You sure?"

She nodded, trying to make eye contact. Her eyes kept diverting elsewhere.

Rachel bent over, slipping her hands into her legs. "I can't say enough how sorry I am that I made you feel like you have to be perfect. I never meant that, peanut." She reached a hand up to push some hair behind Shelby's right ear. "Aside from that, is there anything I can do to help make things better?"

Shelby stared off to the side.

"Is there anything you would like to do this weekend? We can do whatever you want to do."

She shrugged again.

"Well, you have the rest of the week to think about it. You don't have to give me an answer now. Or, we can just stay home if you want to. It's up to you."

Shelby continued staring at nothing.

"Well, I guess I'll see you Friday?" Rachel stood up straight and looked over at Luke.

"We will see you, Friday."

"I will call sometime in the next couple days to give you the address and directions," she told him.

"Okay," he replied.

Turning back to their daughter, Rachel told her, good-bye. "I love you."

Shelby chewed on her lip some more. She at least held a thumb's up for her mom.

Rachel said bye to Luke before going their separate ways to their vehicles. When Luke had turned to walk down his side of the truck, he noticed she had paused, getting into her SUV, the same dark blue one she had before. He waved for her which she returned. Rachel then slid in under the steering wheel which Luke did the same.

On the way home, Kenny Rogers came on the radio, singing his song, _Handprints on the Wall._ Things had been quiet up until that point, between father and daughter as Shelby just stared out her window.

A lump formed in his throat as Luke listened to the words of the song. He tried to swallow the lump but it only grew larger. As much as Luke prefered things in a neat and clean way, he didn't mind his little buddy leaving her mark around the apartment. Isn't that how memories are made? Guess that just reminds them just how different he and Rachel were.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The rest of Shelby's first week of third grade ended up being nerve-whacking for the kid when she learned she would have to present her _All About Me_ report to the class on Friday. Mrs. Sweeney reserved the entire morning so every single student had a turn, and that included Shelby, who was not excused from it.

Thankfully, some of the townspeople helped Shelby prepare. Miss Patty convinced Taylor to let her practice at the town meeting, Thursday evening. Taylor let her go at the end when he was finished.

Having sung for the town plenty of times already, Shelby wasn't as nervous as she was to give her report to her class. It still took her a minute to warm up before Shelby could start. Early that afternoon, Lorelai stopped by the diner and offered to call Rory to offer her some tips in giving reports. Though, when Luke came over, he had to remind them of the _No Cell Phone_ rule while pointing over at the sign. Shelby offered they could move upstairs so they could finish talking.

Rory ended up talking the little girl through, sharing her own process that has worked for her, even giving Shelby, the one her grandfather gave about not picturing the class in their underwear.

It helped during the practice run as well as on Friday. Shelby was all excited when she came charging into the diner and immediately over to where her dad was taking an order for a table of three.

"I was really nervous and my head hur', and my hear' was bea-ting super fas', bu' I did it, Dad," she told him while grinning from ear to ear.

"That's great, kiddo," he praised. "I'm so proud of you!" Luke hugged his little buddy with one arm, to him then started repeatedly rubbing her opposite arm.

Shelby held an arm around his lower waist as she beamed up at him.

"Are you glad it's over?" He smirked at her.

"Yeah, bu' this was only the firs' of many repor's we have to give this year."

"Well, you can only get better from here," he told her, encouragingly.

Shelby smiled again at that.

"Did you get any homework for the weekend?" he asked.

"Jus' our daily reading. Is Mom allowed to initial for tomorrow?" Another thing Mrs. Sweeney assigned to the students was a daily reading chart a parent or guardian has to initial off on every single day when their child reads for at least fifteen-thirty minutes.

Luke shrugged. "I mean, sure. But I can also sign off on it with Sunday's when you come home."

"Okay, I'll wai' then." Shelby tried asking if she could work a little bit before they leave for Woodbury, but Luke suggested packing first. If there's time after she finishes then she could work a little. Shelby then headed upstairs to start packing.

Luke and Shelby left around four-thirty. He had Shelby read him the directions Rachel had given him. For the most part, they were simple to follow. The road Rachel lived on was a cul-de-sac and wasn't easy to spot, so Luke ended up driving right by where he was supposed to turn.

Once they turned on to Laurel Woods Road, they drove down and started looking for the right house. Each house was hidden by a ring of trees like a wall.

Luke did manage to spot the house number on the mailbox and turned left into the long, curved gravel driveway, parking a few feet away from the two car garage. Getting out on their own sides, Luke grabbed the duffel bag from the back and carried it in while Shelby carried in her basketball and book. Aside from giving her dad, the directions when he asked for them, Luke made sure to give the kid a pep talk, reminding her to just try and pay attention to how she's sitting. Between having to give a report and visit her mom for the weekend, this has been a pretty stressful week for the kid.

They walked around the garage and up the cobblestone path towards the double front doors. Luke stared up at the colonial-style house. The lower half of the house, all of the garage except for part of the roof, and the chimneys were made of worn, red bricks while the top half of the house and part of the roof was wood with most of it painted white. It was a two-story house with trimmed bushes out in front. On the left side of the front door, the ground was raised with a brick lining around them and space for a garden. There was also a lone tree in front of the right side of the house.

"Mom lives here now?" Luke heard Shelby ask, looking up at the house, too.

"Guess so." It did seem like a simple little house Rachel would like. But the way the house was centered on an acre of land, reminded him of one of those horror films set in the woods despite neighbors still being just on the other side of the trees.

Luke and Shelby stepped up to the brown, double doors. Looking around the indented doors, Luke caught sight of the doorbell to his left and pressed it with his finger. Shortly after, the door on his side, opened with Rachel smiling back at them.

"Hey, welcome, you two," she greeted them, cheerfully. Before letting them in, Rachel reminded them to remove their shoes and placed them in the corner of the small porch with hers and Roger's shoes, also asking if Shelby could leave her ball with the shoes for now, not wanting it inside the house. Once inside, she closed the door behind them.

Luke looked around the long foyer and up the backwards L-shaped stairs. The floor in the foyer was hardwood along with the top of each of the stairs and banister while the railing and the rest of the stairs were white to match the walls. On either side of the front doors was a closet, each with a white door. The walls were painted a light teal color. They were also standing on a fancy design, rectangular rug.

"So, this is the new place," he commented, setting the duffel bag down at his feet.

Rachel looked around, nodding. "Yeah, this is the new place. The moment we saw it, Roger and I loved it." She looked back at him. "It has a great view and the neighborhood's pretty quiet, and I figured Shelby could use a big yard to play in."

Luke looked down at Shelby, who was looking around, as well.

"Care for the grand tour?" Rachel asked of the two.

"Sure," he told her.

"Well, this is the foyer," she started, holding her hands out. Pointing over to the right of the front door, behind them, "that's the den over there."

Luke twisted around while Shelby turned her whole body. It was a small living room with a fireplace directly in the center on the far wall with a shelf above it and built in shelves on either side, all the way to the ceiling. The fireplace was also brick like the outside of the house.

Rachel started to lead them around the house. Right across from the front doors, underneath the stairs looked to be a closet, which she explained Roger was in the process of converting into a dark room for her.

"It looks like Harry Po'ter's cupboard he had to sleep in until he go' to move into his cousin's second bedroom," Shelby timidly spoke up.

"Why did he have to sleep under the stairs?" Rachel asked.

"Because his aun' and uncle are mean," she replied.

Rachel shared a look with Luke. Hearing about two of the books Shelby reads with characters who were abused did seem strange to hear if one didn't know the whole story. Then again, a lot of fairy tales were just as sad.

She pointed out the kitchen that was next to the closet as they headed inside the living room that was to the left of the front door. It was bigger than the den was but also had a fireplace on the far wall in the center. Unlike the fireplace in the den, there was only a brick frame. Around the fireplace was also a white frame that matched the baseboards with a mantel where Rachel had framed pictures and a couple candles sitting on it. A few Luke noticed were of Shelby while others were of her niece and nephews, and a few of her and Roger, together. There was a shelf over beside the open doorway to the dining room with more framed pictures and several figurines. A few spots on the walls had pictures and paintings around the room as well.

On either side of the fire place was full sized wide windows with a curtain covering one of them while the other was open to the side. On the front wall, was a matching blue velvety couch and loveseat, with a light brown coffee table in front of the couch. Across from the couch and loveseat was a large boxed big screen TV from the 1990s with the entire bottom under the screen a speaker between entryways. The room was pretty roomy and open. Unlike the foyer, though, the living room had light grey carpeting.

Next, they headed inside the dining room that was at the back of the house. The doors in the entryway, Luke noticed, was one of those sliding double doors. The dining room also had wood-flooring and was painted yellow. Rachel mentioned all the walls downstairs were already painted when they moved in and seemed fine for now. Possibly down the road, she and Roger might paint them, but for now, they only focused on the bedrooms.

Rachel had a china cabinet on the left wall with wine glasses on the top shelf and decorative plates of nature scenes on the bottom two. In the middle of the room was a brown table with six matching chairs. A rug like the one in the foyer was underneath. On the other side of the room was a set of window-paned doors.

"Would you like to see the best room in the house, peanut?" she asked Shelby.

Shelby gave a slight shrug.

Rachel had her follow around the table. She opened one of the doors and let Shelby go first, and Luke, who had curiously followed. He had thought it was a back patio back there. It was, sort of, but was actually a sunroom with a wicker patio couch and matching chair with a glass coffee table. Along the ceiling were spotlights and windows that lined the walls. To the right was a sliding glass door leading to some wooden steps, outside.

Luke couldn't help point out the large fridge in the corner of the room. "Why do you have a fridge out here?"

She shrugged. "Came with the house. We're gonna keep drinks out here, like soda, water, and beer for when we have friends over."

"So, you have a fridge inside, too?" Having two fridges seemed nuts to him.

"In the kitchen, yes, like you normally would. Like I said, it came with the house, so we're just going with it." Rachel turned back to Shelby, asking if she had seen the backyard when they pulled up. Shelby only a part of it, so Rachel went over to open the sliding glass door to show her the rest.

When Shelby stepped out onto the wooden steps, even standing directly behind her, Luke could see the kid was in awe. She gasped as her mouth hung open.

"You can play foo'ball here!" she blurted out.

"You can play anything you want, peanut." Rachel smiled for the little girl. "Just be careful. We live on a hill so the yard is a little slanted."

Shelby nodded and looked back at the yard.

They headed back inside to continue the tour, heading into the kitchen next that was next to the dining room in two different rooms. All of the appliances were stainless steel, including the stove. The fridge was one of those side by side ones with the water and ice dispenser on the door. Luke had to point out once again why there was two ovens with a pizza oven underneath the extra one. Other than Thanksgiving and Christmas, when would anyone ever need to cook a lot of food? Parties, maybe? Again, it came with the house, so it was only a minor complaint.

The extra ovens were sandwiched between two cabinets next to a counter where they had a microwave sitting there with four thin drawers and a couple more cabinets underneath. On the other side of the counter was a pantry that had the same kind of doors as the sunroom's. In front of the pantry was a small but high kitchen table with four stools with backrests. The floor was all sand-color small, square tiles.

Next to the fridge was another small counter space with a dishwasher underneath and a double sink. Over the sink was a double window that slides open. On the other side of the sink was more counter space, connecting in a L-shape with the stove and more counter space on the other side of the stove next to the entryway they had came through. All along the back wall of that section was tiled with colors to match the tile on the floor. The walls in the kitchen also matched the walls in the foyer and the three windows behind the kitchen table were the same full sized windows in the living room, grouped together.

Rachel took them down a hall pointing out a half bathroom and the laundry room that had one of those wash basin sinks. The bathroom was all yellow from the tile to the floors and the mirror was framed like a painting would be, matching the cupboard under the sink. There was another back door in the laundry room that was an ugly dark brown color with a window in the top half with a diamond and X patterned frame going right through it.

At the end of the hallway was the door to the garage where they heard one of the large garage doors being opened, alerting them Roger had gotten back, who had ran to the store. The rest of the doors across from the laundry room and bathroom were more closets so they headed back through the hallway, going through the entryway that led to the den.

Roger came in from the garage at that point, announcing he was home.

"In here," Rachel called back in return.

The guy appeared from where they had come from, peeking around the corner before coming over.

Luke couldn't help feel guarded now that Roger was here.

Roger kissed Rachel, hello, letting her know he found the stuff they needed for dinner. He then switched over to greet Shelby and also Luke.

Luke returned it just to be polite.

"Glad to have you here, Shelby," he told her in a welcoming manner. "You see your room yet?"

Shelby of course didn't respond, still getting used to her new stepfather.

Rachel spoke up for her. "Not yet. We just finished showing the downstairs."

"Let me put this in the kitchen and I'll meet ya upstairs then." Roger held up the grocery bags he was holding and headed back down the hallway, turning left towards the kitchen.

Rachel motioned in the direction of the foyer. "Shall we head upstairs?" she asked rhetorically and headed back into the foyer where she led them up the stairs. On the way, Luke grabbed the duffel bag.

The railing wrapped all the way around above the stairs, too, where it opened up into a very small loft area. A chandelier hung down from the ceiling above the stairs, covered in tiny balls of light with several lights that resembled candles around the perimeter.

On the other side of the wall to their right, Rachel pointed out hers and Roger's bedroom which Luke twisted around behind him, catching sight of another set of doors like the sunroom's, that led to a small balcony. A little further, perpendicular from their room, Rachel had to explain the concept of a "mancave" to Luke that belongs to Roger.

The room was small but long with a loveseat on the far wall, between two square windows, facing across from a small entertainment center with a medium sized box TV sitting on it, and a coffee table in between, with a few coasters and a game controller sitting on top, along with a few sports, video game, and journalism magazines. In the far corner, there was a computer desk with the latest Apple computer and a desk lamp next to the monitor. On the walls were several baseball and football posters and flag banners, and framed high school and college photos of wrestling teams, along with a few trophies on a shelf across from the door.

Roger came up about that point while Rachel was explaining how much of a Sunday football/gamer/huge dork he really was. "Come on, you know you love it," he playfully teased.

She just gave him a look as Rachel held her arms folded loosely but couldn't help smirk afterwards. She just shook her head. "Whatever makes you happy, hun."

He just chuckled.

Luke just mentally rolled his eyes. To play it cool, though, he brought up, "Hey, I see you used to be on a wrestling team?"

Roger looked over where Luke was motioned towards. "Yeah. Pretty much since my freshman year of high school, all the way through college. Even won state a few times. You?" At least he was being civil as well. Or trying at least.

"I ran track in high school," Luke replied. "Took State, myself, actually."

He nodded in interest. "I had friends on the track team. Takes lots of endurance, I hear."

"Yeah, yeah. I was pretty fast back in the day." Both men just nodded in response, trying very hard to make small talk. The awkward tension in the air was so thick, though, one couldn't cut it with a sharp knife.

Thankfully, Rachel spoke up again and suggested letting Shelby see her room.

Luke silently breathed a sigh of relief when they moved on.

Rachel headed over to a closed door across from Roger's "mancave" and opened it, letting Shelby go in first.

She was a bit hesitant at first but Shelby managed to move her feet and head inside the room. Shelby walked a few feet inside, stopping just before she got to the center and looked around.

Luke stepped just inside, moving to the right. He dropped the duffel bag he was holding at his feet. Though, the room only opened out to the right of the door. In fact, the room was a pretty generous size for a bedroom. It wasn't as big as the master bedroom, but he didn't recall his old childhood bedroom being this big. On the same wall as the door was two closets which apparently all the rooms had two of, except for the master bedroom. That was a walk-in anyway.

Shelby was busy looking around the room in surprise, her eyes wide. Rachel had indeed kept it like her old bedroom. Only this time, it had taken Rob about a week to paint. Right above her bed, one of those camouflage nets hung from the ceiling with what looked like fake foliage inside. In the two far corners of the ceiling were two more nets but they weren't spread out like the one above her bed.

Also hanging from the ceiling, were a few fighter planes and a black helicopter from strings. Her bed was vertically across from the door next to three more of the full sized fused windows. There were also two more regular sized windows on the wall to the right. The carpet matched the carpet in the living room, downstairs. In the corner, next to the farest closest, was an army green colored bean bag chair with the same desk Shelby had before with a small bookcase in between the two windows.

"I figured since you had such a small space in your old room to build your Legos and train set, this might be a little better for you, peanut," Rachel told her.

Shelby looked from her mom, to around the room again.

"What do you think?" Roger asked, leaning against the narrow part of the wall outside of the room.

While still looking around, Shelby gave another shrug.

Despite the walls being painted, Rachel had made sure to save a lot of her old posters including the one of the kid and Pikachu from _Pokemon_. Only this time, she placed them in frames like Roger's were in his "mancave". It did make them look more nicer despite being pictures of cartoons. Luke also noticed some sports flags of the Red Sox he remembered Rachel asking about a few weeks ago, on the narrow space above the door and above the headboard underneath the net.

There was still a guest room on the other side of the small loft area but the tour pretty much ended with Shelby's room when they made their way back downstairs to walk Luke out.

"The place looks great," he commented once they were back in the foyer.

Rachel thanked him. "It seemed like the most simple and nice-looking of all the houses we looked at."

"Plus, we liked the privacy the trees give," Roger added. "Not that we don't mind neighbors."

"It just…" she paused to think of a way to put what they meant. "It's just nice having our own little private area. We've already been greeted by our neighbor right across from us," Rachel pointed towards the front of the house. "And one at the end of the cul-de-sac down there."

"Well, it seems really nice here," Luke continued to comment, positively. "It's great. What about you, kiddo? You think so?"

Shelby was standing with one socked foot on the bottom step, while leaning against the railing. She shrugged. Luke was trying to get the kid to be a little excited but he knew it was still nerve-whacking for her. Not in a bad way and he understood over time, if things got better, Shelby would warm up to being there, especially with that huge yard.

"Shelby will be safe here and we promise not to push her too much," Roger assured. "And like Rachel had said, I don't expect her to call me, dad, or anything. I know that's you, and I can't and won't try and change that. But Shelby is a huge part of Rachel's life, too, so I want to get to know the awesome kid I've heard so much about." He smiled over at Shelby. "That okay, Shelbster?"

Luke caught the kid steal a glance over at him before switching back to the guy.

Rachel snickered a little. "If it helps, peanut, Roger's a lot less strict than I am." With the guy being a gamer and into sports like Shelby was, Luke wouldn't be surprised if she warmed up to him sooner than she re-warms up to Rachel. Maybe he was the perfect stepfather for the kid. Truthfully, though, that freaked Luke out. It was foolish to think, after these last three years, Shelby would favor the guy over her own dad. Not when the two was so close. But it still terrified him, a little. If anything, Roger was more of a threat to Rachel's relationship than his.

Snapping out his thoughts, Luke eventually gave Shelby, a big hug and a kiss, good-bye and reminded her, he was just a phone call away. He then stepped outside onto the welcome mat to put his shoes back on.

Shelby hugged the door frame to watch him leave. Once Luke had his shoes on, he waved at her which she returned and made his way back down the walkway towards the truck. When Luke looked back after opening his door, the front door was closed and Shelby, Rachel, and Roger had gone inside again.

Taking a deep breath, Luke slid into his seat and shut the door. It took a lot of strength to start the truck and put the gear into reverse, to back out. Backing out actually took a moment since their driveway was so long. Being curved didn't help any, either. After a minute, though, the tailgate got to the road which he checked both ways to make sure it was clear before pulling out and headed back to Stars Hollow.

Since it was Friday, Luke didn't see Lorelai that evening. Kirk being Kirk was there, of course, and just working in general helped take his mind off of worrying. He was glad when Shelby called that night at bedtime. Luke assured her, Gexie was being well cared for.

"So, how is it so far?" he asked.

"I's okay. We had lasagna for dinner. I mos'ly read my book until it was ready. Then we watched a movie."

"What did ya see?"

"We watched a _Spiderman_ movie with real people in'tead of a cartoon," she said.

"Yeah? Was it any good?"

"It was okay. No' grea' bu' no' bad either."

Luke decided to ask the most important question. "Has your mom gotten on you about anything yet?"

Shelby didn't respond right away.

"Shelby?" he said, firm but in an encouraging way.

"I sa' on the floor to watch the movie," she admitted ashamed. "Mom asked me, very nice, if I wanted to si' next to her bu' I go' nervous and shook my head. I'm sorry, Dad." The tone in her voice sounded like Shelby was about to cry and he would be very disappointed in her.

"It's okay, kiddo. We all have our weak moments," Luke assured her. "And, hey, you're there, trying. We don't expect you to be completely fine right away. Just take tiny steps towards the couch. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Atta girl." They talked for a few more minutes before letting Shelby go so they can both head to bed.

Before he slipped into bed, Luke checked in on Gexie and made sure to give her fresh water and tossed in a cricket.

As he laid there, staring up at a dark ceiling, Luke couldn't help miss his little buddy already. Every time Shelby was gone, the apartment felt empty without her, no matter where she was. Even whenever she slept over at Lorelai's or the twins' house, he'd miss her.

Luke turned his head to look over at the empty space of his bed. If only he had someone his own age…


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The diner kept Luke busy, Saturday morning, with the usual six AM crowd. The place was packed and of course Caesar was driving him, nuts. But thankfully, they all got through it like always and soon the breakfast rush thinned out to just a few stragglers coming in for a late breakfast. Since there was a calm before the next storm, also known as the lunch rush, Luke took the time to go over the orders from that morning and marked them into his ledger. That's when Ethan and his mom stopped by.

"Hey, Luke," the boy greeted first, getting to the counter before his mom did.

"Hey, Ethan," he greeted in return. "You know Shelby's not here this weekend, right?"

"Yeah, she told us she was spending the weekend at her mom's."

Cheryl came over next, also greeting Luke, cheerfully. "Good morning, Luke."

"Good morning, Cheryl," he also returned. "Can I get ya anything?"

"Actually, an iced tea would be great. Thanks."

"You bet." Luke turned back to the kid. "How about you?"

"Can I get a chocolate milk?" Ethan asked.

"Sure," he smiled. "One iced tea and one chocolate milk, coming right up." Luke asked Caesar if he could make Ethan's chocolate milk while he made Cheryl's iced tea, finishing about the same time.

"There you go," Luke placed the lid on Cheryl's and grabbed a straw for her, sticking it inside while leaving part of the wrapper on the top end. Caesar did the same with Ethan's.

Cheryl took her wallet out of her purse to pay for the drinks. While she did, Ethan spoke up again.

"Hey, Luke," he said once Ethan took the first drink.

"Yeah?"

"I know Shelby works here to earn her allowance."

"She does," Luke said with a nod, leaning on the counter. Cheryl handed him a five dollar bill which he went into the register to count out her change.

"Do you think I could help out, too, sometime? For a few dollars? I'm trying to make money to get my own GameCube and Shelby told me to ask you," the kid admitted.

Luke counted out the change and passed it back to Cheryl, who thanked him before putting the money into her wallet. He then closed the drawer and moved back to lean on the edge of the counter.

"Hm," he said as to think on it. "Tell ya what, since you're one of Shelby's best friends and since I'm short of help since Shelby's at her mom's, this weekend, I need someone to sweep the floors and restock the napkins and condiments. I'll pay ya what I would have paid her, if Shelby was here, this weekend, and any weekend she's at her mom's. How's that? That is, if you want an ongoing weekend job."

"How often will Shelby be at her mom's?" he asked.

"We're not sure yet, but possibly every other if it works out." Even if Shelby does end up liking it over at her mom's, Luke still will want her home on a weekend, here and there. "For sure, you can start this weekend, though."

"As long as I'm making money, I'll do whatever you say, Luke," Ethan told him.

"Alright then, it's a deal." Luke extended his hand out to the kid which Ethan accepted, shaking hands. "That okay with you, Cheryl?"

"Fine by me," she said with a quick shrug.

"Okay. Come by this afternoon and I will put ya to work." Luke gave him a smile.

"Okay. See you then." Ethan saluted his best friend's dad which Luke played along. He and his mom said their good-byes as they headed for the door.

Luke returned it right as the phone rang.

Stepping backwards, he answered the phone. "Luke's."

There was a pause before he heard, "Is Scout there?"

Even though this wasn't the first time he answered the phone to find his nephew on the other end, it still caught him by surprise every time. A part of him always wanted to ask if the guy was alright, if he was safe. But Luke also did not want to drive the guy further away, especially when Jess always got right to the point of calling and ask for his cousin.

"She's not here, Jess. She's spending the weekend at her mom's." The call suddenly ended there and all Luke heard was the dial tone. Taking in a deep breath, Luke let it out and hung up the phone.

He knew Jess had called Monday night for Shelby's first day of school so Luke figured he didn't know about her having to go to Rachel's for the weekend which was strange because Jess normally called on Wednesdays, probably so Shelby could tell him about the week's session. Jess must have been busy the past Wednesday or something.

Luke just shrugged it off for now and went back to going over the morning's orders. At least he knew Jess was alive.

Ethan kept his word, returning that afternoon. Luke went easy on the kid to start him off with, having him refill the salt and pepper shakers.

Lorelai was impressed when she stopped in for a quick bite to eat and to see how Shelby was doing at her mom's which Luke explained how she was sticking to the floor for now.

"You gotta start somewhere, right?" she shrugged.

"I guess." He also told her about the new house when Lorelai asked, though, Rachel had also told her a little about it when they ran into each other, once.

When things started to get busy again, Luke sent Ethan home, letting him know he could come back tomorrow. Besides, refilling the salt and pepper shakers, Luke also had Ethan sweep up and even let him wipe down tables once they were cleared.

Later that night, after Luke had closed the diner and headed upstairs, Shelby called just as he was heading to bed.

"Hey, kiddo. How'd it go, today?"

"It was okay," she replied.

"Okay's good," he told her, lightheartedly. "Did you do anything?"

"We wen' hiking real early this morning," Shelby said. "We wen' on an easy one since it was my firs' hike."

"Yeah? Did you like it?"

"Yeah. I though' the view was nice."

"You know, your mom and I used to go hiking every Sunday morning. Where did you go? Which spot?"

"I think Mom called it, the Indian Council Caves, but they weren' really caves. Jus' a bunch of big rocks leaning together tha' we go' to climb over."

"Yeah, I've been there, and you're right, kiddo. It's not much of actual caves," he agreed, knowing exactly what Shelby meant.

"Yeah, bu' it was 'till nice and beautiful. While we were hiking, Roger talked abou' if I would like to go camping for a weekend. I told him I would have to ask you firs' if it was okay."

Luke raised his eyebrows. Camping was usually their thing. But then he remembered how much Rachel also enjoyed camping just as much as he did, remembering the times they've shared, camping together. Rachel would probably want to take Shelby camping, too at some point.

"How do you feel about that? Camping with your mom and Roger, I mean?" he decided to ask her.

"I don' know," she answered, honestly. "Hiking was fun and I love camping. Would you…? Can I go camping withou' you?"

"It's up to you, kiddo. If you want to go camping with your mom and Roger, that's fine by me."

"Are you sure?" It was apparent Shelby didn't want to hurt his feelings by going camping with someone else when up until this point, she's only gone with him.

He smiled at the thought. "It's fine by me, I promise. Your mom and I also went camping, and both enjoyed it just as much. If you want to go, go, kiddo."

"I'm 'till thinking abou' it, bu' okay. I'll keep tha' in mind."

Luke chuckled at Shelby's phasing of words. He sure did love this kid. "Take all the time you need," he reminded her. "What else did you do, today?"

"Um, we had lunch at this sandwich place, bu' I can' remember wha's i's called. Then we came home and showered off from our hiking trip and I read for a little bi' in my room until Roger asked if I wanted to play him a' a baske'ball game he has until Mom called us for dinner. Then, after dinner we watched another movie. The new _Harry Potter_ movie Jess and I wen' to see a' the thea'er was on the movie channel so we watched tha'."

"Did you make it to the couch, this time?"

There was a pause which Shelby didn't say anything.

"It's okay, Shell," he assured her. "It doesn't have to happen this weekend. Just whenever you're ready."

"I like laying on the floor, anyway," she admitted. "I can stretch out more on the floor."

Luke smiled some more. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"What about when you were playing video games with Roger? Did you sit on the floor?"

"Um, yeah. I sat on my legs agains' the coffee table," she admitted.

"It'll get easier," Luke promised her some more. He also told her about Ethan coming by and asking for a job, and explained how he would step in if Shelby decided to keep going to her mom's for the weekend and about Jess calling, before the two ended the call and said good night.

Ethan came by around the same time, Sunday afternoon and helped out some more. Luke was impressed by how eager the kid wanted to work and how hard he worked, too. Though, most of it was probably because of how much Ethan really wanted his own GameCube. Luke still admired that about him, though. So much so, when it came time to close down the diner while he went to pick up Shelby, Luke gave Ethan, an added bonus than they had agreed to, for all the hard work he put in.

Ethan lit up with happiness. Unexpectedly, he latched onto Luke, hugging him while thanking him, over and over again.

Luke was taken back and wasn't sure how to respond to the sudden hugging. Nonetheless, he smiled knowing he made the kid very happy.

"You earned it."

Ethan stepped back to look up at his best friend's dad. "Shelby was right. You are a big softy," he said with a grin.

"Yes, and if you spread a word of that to anybody, you will also see the opposite side of me," Luke replied, trying to sound threatening, adding a warning glare.

It must have worked because Ethan pretended to zip his lips shut and lock them, tossing the imaginary key over his shoulder.

Luke just ruffled the kid's blond hair and offered to give him a lift home since it was on his way.

Once Luke had locked up, the guys headed outside to his truck where he lifted Ethan's bike into the back end while Ethan got in the front. They headed for his house where Luke parked out front by the curb. He got out of the truck to lift the bike out, setting it on the sidewalk. Ethan thanked him one last time, waving as the kid pushed his bike up the driveway and reached up to punch in the code for the garage.

Luke waited until the garage was closed again and Ethan was safely in his house before getting back in the truck and headed back to Woodbury.

He pulled into the long driveway around twenty after four and stepped out, placing his keys into his pocket as Luke made his way around to the front door, ringing the doorbell. This time, Roger answered the door.

"Hey," he greeted Luke.

"Hey," Luke returned. "Is Shelby ready?" About that moment, his question was answered when Shelby suddenly appeared and jumped on her dad, happy to see him as she squeezed him around the waist. "Hey, kiddo. I missed you too," he chuckled.

Shelby smiled up at him, showing off her dimples.

"You ready to go?"

She nodded and hurried back in and up the stairs to go grab her stuff, leaving the two men alone.

"Shelby seemed to have a good time, this weekend," said Roger, trying to make small talk.

"Uh, yeah. She told me that, last night on the phone," Luke replied, awkwardly trying to contribute.

"We were watching the game," he pointed back over his shoulder. "Rachel says you're a big baseball fan."

Luke nodded. "Yeah, yeah. The Red Soxs and the Texas Rangers, right?"

"Yeah. The Soxs seems to be Shelby's favorite."

"Oh, yeah. She loves them." The men continued to make small talk about baseball until finally the girls came downstairs. Luke let out a silent sigh of relief. "All ready, Shell?"

She nodded when Shelby got to the door.

Luke took the duffel bag which Shelby moved Pikachu to her other arm while Charizard remained in her left arm.

"She hasn't eaten dinner yet," Rachel pointed out, though Luke would hope so since it was still a little early for dinner in his opinion. Three o'clock was the cut off for maybe a late lunch.

But Luke just politely said, "okay."

"Well, peanut, it was nice having you here, this weekend," Rachel told Shelby. "I'm really glad you gave us a chance."

Shelby just blinked up at her mom, looking as though she wasn't sure how to respond even if she was able to speak.

"Can I have a hug, good-bye?"

She nodded, switching Pikachu back to her other arm and gave her mom, a one-armed hug.

"I love you, peanut," Rachel said, hugging her in return with one arm, as well.

Shelby didn't say anything.

When they let go, Shelby stepped out onto the welcome mat, sitting on the small bench to put her shoes on.

"There wasn't any problems or issues, that I know of," Rachel told Luke while they waited.

"Good," he nodded. Once Shelby was finished, all four waved good-bye, and Luke and Shelby headed over to the truck. Tossing the duffel bag in the back, Luke slid in on his side while Shelby got in on her side.

He backed out, slow and carefully, until they were on the road and headed home.

"So, how was it, over all?" Luke asked once they were driving on the main road.

Shelby shrugged while staring out her window. She looked over at him. "It was 'till okay."

"Do anything today?"

"Roger cooked a big breakfas', this morning and then pu' up the baske'ball hoop."

"Yeah, I saw that was up, this time," Luke commented, remembering he had noticed a basketball hoop was next to the garage when he pulled up. "So, you got to play?"

She nodded. "I played him."

"And, did you win?" he smirked.

"Yeah, bu' I think he le' me win."

Luke shrugged while holding onto the steering wheel with his right hand. "Probably being nice because he didn't know you were a star player." He snickered at that which made Shelby smile.

She shrugged too. "Yeah, probably." Suddenly, Shelby froze and blurted out, "oh no!"

"What?" he asked, worried.

"I left my ball at Mom's house," she said, anxiously.

Luke relaxed when it was just something simple. "I can call her and ask if she could bring it with her on Tuesday, if you really want it. Or, just wait until you go over there again."

"Please, Dad?"

Luke smiled for her. "Of course, kiddo," he reassured her.

"Thanks."

"So, it wasn't bad, huh?"

She shook her head. "Mom and I talked, las' nigh' after I called you."

"Yeah?" Luke made sure to keep his main focus on the road, but kept briefly glancing over at his little buddy. "What did you talk about?"

Shelby shrugged, looking at the floorboards at her feet. "Just 'tuff. Mom did mos' of the talking, bu' I talked a little bi'. It was nice, though. I guess."

Luke sensed there was more on the kid's mind, but decided not to push her as it seemed like Shelby wasn't saying anymore about it. Besides, about that time, she reached over to switch on the radio. He was just glad his little buddy had a good, first time spending the weekend at her mom's house.

"So, what do you think?" he asked after a moment of listening to the radio. "Want to resume weekends with your mom, again? Or is it too soon to tell?"

Shelby shrugged while looking out the window again.

"It's up to you, kiddo. I won't make you if you don't want to." He held a shrug while facing the road ahead. "It doesn't even have to be every weekend. We can do every other weekend, or even one weekend a month." Luke gave Shelby a moment to answer before adding, "Or it can be one weekend every once in a while, too." Even if Shelby decided not to keep up with weekends at her mom's, he would figure something else out with Ethan filling in for her at the diner. Like one afternoon or two, a week or something. He just didn't want his little buddy to think she was being pushed into something.

Luke wanted Shelby to have some kind of relationship with her mom, though, and hoped it would be more than just a causal, once in a while thing when they saw each other. But he also knew he had to let Shelby decide and hope her heart isn't broken again.

Finally, after a long moment, Shelby said. "We'll see."

The tone in her voice made him smile, knowing there was still a hint of hope left inside of her, after all. "Okay. And, hey," he got her attention. "Always remember, no matter how many people come and go in your life, you'll always have me."

Shelby couldn't hold back a smile and leaned over to rest her head against her dad while he drove. Luke held an arm around her, giving her a quick tight squeeze.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Just a couple of things that was brought to my attention from last chapter. First, no one has to fear of Roger doing anything to Shelby. He's not that kind of guy. I know in my other stories I write about stuff like abuse but that won't be included in this story. So, you don't have to worry about anything like that. Second, Jess is still being asked about even though I've said he will return later in the season as he does on the show. Until then, he will barely be mentioned, if at all. For most of season four, Luke did not hear anything from or about Jess' whereabouts and that is still the case, despite Shelby still having contact with him. Whatever/wherever he was and is doing on the show is where Jess is now, in the story.**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Around lunch time, on Monday, Luke ended up getting a call from Ms. Kelly, who had finally started meeting with Shelby again for the new school year. She learned about Shelby having to share her small report to the class, and was very proud.

"I've talked with Shelby about possibly working on sharing more with the class since her teacher this year, and since one of her goals is being able to open up more, this might be that time to take the next step," she was explaining to him.

"Yeah, I think that's great," Luke agreed. "Shelby's done so well with getting up and singing during town meetings."

"My thoughts exactly. Though, Shelby was unsure, of course."

"Her and I can talk about it tonight," he suggested.

"That would be great if you could. It helps when the parents are equally involved. The teachers and I can only do so much."

"Yeah, of course. I want to see her succeed just as much if not more." Luke smiled, proudly. This kid has been through so much, any success would be a plus for her.

"Thank you so much, Mister Danes," Miss Kelly told him. They finished the conversation before ending the call.

That afternoon, Luke ended up receiving another call. Only this time, it was from Shelby, herself, letting him know she was heading to hers and Jess' old spot to work on her homework and read for a couple of hours. He thanked her for calling first and reminded Shelby to be home before it got dark. Promising she would, Shelby said she loved him which Luke returned before they ended their call, as well.

Later, just before sunset, Shelby finally made it home, heading around the counter as Luke was dropping off an order to a customer. He met her, there afterwards, sharing a hug and kissed the top of her head.

"Hey, kiddo," he greeted, rubbing her opposite arm. "Have a good day?"

She gave a stiff shrug. "It was alright. We did some review and 'tar'ed our firs' math lesson."

"Yeah? How'd you do?"

"We did place value 'tuff like we did las' year, bu' in the thousands and ten thousands. It was 'till easy, though. I finished the homework in fifteen minutes and finally finished my book. Tha's why I was almos' la'e. Sorry, Dad." Shelby gave a sincere look up at him.

Luke gave her another squeeze. "It's okay, kiddo. You made it just in time," he assured with a smile. "Just be careful with your time."

"Okay," she replied.

"Miss Kelly called earlier but we can talk about that later, tonight. How's that?"

"Okay," Shelby nodded that time. "Can I help ou' down here?"

"Sure." About that time, a customer asked for some ketchup in which Shelby was quick to respond, grabbing a bottle from the counter and taking it over to him. The customer thanked her when he took the ketchup from her. Shelby gave him a kind smile before hurrying over to help John clear a nearby table.

Once the diner was closed and cleaned up for the night, the two headed upstairs to have dinner and get ready for bed.

Shelby was watching TV when Luke emerged from the bathroom, showered and changed into pajamas having some bonding time with Gexie curled up on her chest. He dropped onto the couch beside her, gently smacking her leg with the back of his hand to remind her to take it off the couch, immediately uncomfortable at what he saw. A person had their head inside a clear box while several tarantulas lounged all over them and the surrounding area around his head.

"What the hell are you watching?" he questioned.

She shrugged. " _Fear Factor_? I found it, channelsurfing. They have to keep 'till for three minutes while…" the word Shelby tried to say ended up a jumbled mess Luke could not understand, "...are on their heads." Though, from watching what was on TV was clear Shelby was trying to say tarantulas.

"Why?"

"So, they could win money," she answered, glancing at him and switched back to the TV as the guy inside was shaking a lot.

"Why would anyone subject themselves to something as idiotic as this? You couldn't pay me enough to do that."

Shelby just shrugged again. "Same here."

They continued watching as the rest of the contestants took their turn. Surprisingly, not one of them freaked out. When the show went to a commercial, Shelby switched the channel and started surfing through a couple channels before stopping on a preseason football game between the St. Louis Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

After a moment of watching the game, Luke finally decided to bring up what him and Miss Kelly had talked about over the phone. "So, Miss Kelly called today."

"She said she would," Shelby replied, staring at the TV. When another commercial break started, Shelby decided to switch over to ESPN2, where a baseball game was being shown between the Anaheim Angels and the Chicago White Soxs with the Angels ahead by one run.

As much as Luke wanted to chat about baseball which was one of his favorites to do with his little buddy, he held his tongue and focused on the main objective.

"She thinks one of your goals for this year should be to work on giving presentations in front of the class since that's what Mrs. Sweeney expects of you. And, since one of your main goals has been to be able to open up more in school and other social settings."

Shelby didn't respond that time. She just kept watching the game as the pitcher struck out the batter. Gexie turned a little.

"What do you think about that?" he asked.

She gave a shrug.

"I think that would be really great for you," Luke said, encouragely.

Shelby dropped her gaze towards the critter on her chest, watching her for a moment.

"After all, you've already done it once, already."

"I's scary going up there, though," she managed to admit.

"It only gets easy as you keep doing it," he pointed out. "Remember when you first started singing at town meetings, and how it took several different performances before you stopped freezing up?"

Shelby nodded.

"It's the same thing, pretty much. Like singing for the town, giving a report to the class will get easier after a while, too and you were so proud of yourself afterwards."

Shelby looked up at him. "Bu' wha' if I mess up? Adul's are nicer than kids are."

"You know most of the other kids by now. Do you think they'll laugh at you for messing up?" Luke asked.

"Yes." Shelby didn't even think on that question.

Luke paused. He tried to think of something that he could say to help Shelby gain some confidence, especially when Luke wasn't the greatest role model when it came to speaking in front of a group of people. He was a nervous wreck when Lorelai had roped him into giving that speech at the high school. But, then again, Luke did get through it.

"Look, Shell," he said, stretching his arm out over her head to wrap around the kid. "I may not be the best example since I'm usually a loner, but sometimes we have to step out of our comfort zones to succeed in life. When I decided to change your grandfather's hardware store into a diner, I knew nothing about running a business. I practically freaked out when your grandfather left it to me. But I knew someone had to, especially if I didn't want Taylor getting his hands on it. So, I just jumped in and learned all I could, with help from Buddy and Maisy, of course." Luke smiled.

"We wouldn't have known Lor-lai and Rory if you haven't," Shelby pointed out with a half smirk.

Luke chuckled. "No, probably not. But you see what I mean." He rubbed the hand he had around her, along her opposite arm. "Remember when we were talking about what you wanted to be when you grew up?"

Shelby nodded. "I 'till don' know." She switched to shaking her head, afterwards.

"And, that's okay. My point is, I mentioned something about Reba McEntire or another country singer maybe having to overcome something, like being shy, as a kid, too. We all have our insecurities we have to overcome and I know you can overcome yours."

"You think so?"

"You bet, kiddo. You came this far and I have total faith you can master speaking in front of your class just like singing in front of the town." Luke gave her a proud smile. He gave a small shrug, "maybe even pretend your classmates are the townspeople."

"Tha' could work," Shelby tried to agree.

"And, listen, Shell," Luke continued. "I am so very proud how much you look up to me, and we have so much in common and all. I love that about ya. We're still, and always will be, best buddies. But, I also don't want you growing up to be exactly like me, a boring, grumpy owner who lived alone above a diner. You have so much more potential I hate to see you waste."

"Okay."

"Not that you still can't be somewhat like me," he quickly mentioned. "Just, mostly be your own person. Okay?"

Shelby gave him a nod and grinned. "I will, Dad." Her grin faded, though as she looked away again towards the TV.

"What's wrong, kiddo?"

She looked towards Gexie again, not saying anything for a moment.

Luke gave her arm a loving squeeze. "You know I never want to make you do anything you don't want to do, but sometimes, there'll come a time when I will have to give you a nudge especially when I know you can do something."

She nodded while still watching Gexie.

Hugging her to him in one arm, Luke gave her a kiss on the head. "You got this, kiddo." He smiled at her.

With that said, Luke decided to cheer Shelby up by switching the conversation over to baseball, sharing their thoughts on the game until it was time for bed. Even though the Angels had, had the lead in the beginning, the Soxs ended up scoring two runs in the seventh and ninth inning, each, and gained a win in the end.

The next day, Luke signed Shelby out of school, a couple hours early again, for the week's session. As much as she didn't mind leaving school early, Luke realized it might be best to either switch to every other week or move to a later time so Shelby didn't have to keep missing the last two hours, one day a week.

By this point, after having to drive to Providence, the drive didn't seem that long anymore, especially when the two chatted most of the way when Shelby wasn't reading or playing her game. This time, she brought her new GameBoy along, having kept it in her backpack while in school. Shelby did confess to sneaking it out to recess and showing the twins her current team.

"Just don't come crying when it gets taken away," Luke just shrugged. If he had to go pick up her GameBoy for her, then Luke would be also keeping it for a week, himself.

When they finally got to the counseling office, Rachel was already there, waiting in the waiting room.

"Hey, peanut," she greeted when Rachel had looked up from the magazine she was looking through.

Shelby stopped beside the chair on the end, taking a hold of its wooden arm while Luke headed over to sign in. She gave her mom a shy wave.

Rachel invited her to come sit, wanting to know how the second week of school was going, so far.

Luke stole a glance over to see Shelby hesitate at first but managed to move over to sit on the edge of the chair beside her mom, sitting on her leg with her right foot hanging off the edge.

"So, how is school going?" he heard Rachel ask.

Luke couldn't hear her but guessed she said, it was going good as that was what Rachel had repeated.

"That's good to hear," said Rachel. "Your ball is in my car. You can get it afterwards, okay?" Luke had called that morning, asking if she could bring Shelby's basketball to the session, for her.

He saw Shelby nod her head as he made his way to sit across from them.

Rachel was leaning forward with her arms on her knees and her hands folded together. Her head was facing Shelby, who was looking everywhere but her mom. Not that Shelby didn't try when she would respond.

"Hey, since last weekend was a success, what do you say about coming over again this weekend? Want to?"

Shelby searched around at her surroundings before looking over at her dad.

"Though, it's really up to Shelby, I would like if we could at least do every other weekend if that's okay with everyone," he told Rachel.

"If that's what Shelby wants, sure, yeah. I'm okay with doing every other weekend," she agreed and looked at Shelby again. "You wanna do that, peanut?"

Shelby forced herself to look at her mom and gave her a nod.

"Alright then, so the next weekend, it is?"

This time, Shelby just shrugged.

"We'll see how Shelby feels by the end of next week," Luke suggested.

Rachel agreed right as the door to the hall opened and Lauren came out with another family, seeing them off like she normally did for Luke, Shelby, and Rachel, while finishing up their conversation, exchanging closing greetings. Once the family was gone, Lauren turned her attention to her next clients.

"Luke, Shelby, Rachel, hi," she greeted them cheerfully, happy to see them.

All three stood up which Luke and Rachel returned the greeting while Shelby just waved in a shy manner.

"Well, shall we?" Lauren took them through the door the other family had come through, back to her office, taking the same seats as last time. "So, how is everyone, today?"

"Good," Rachel was the first to answer with the most confidence.

Luke gave his usual, "Good," response.

"How about you, Shelby? Good day, today?"

The kid nodded her head, holding onto the sides of her chair.

Lauren smiled for her. "Good to hear," she harmlessly teased. Looking between both Shelby and her mom, she asked, "so how did the weekend go?"

"I thought it went very well. Right, peanut?" Rachel switched between Lauren and Shelby.

Lauren turned back to Shelby. "What do you think, Shelby? Do you think the weekend visit at your mom's went well? Is there something you liked? Or, something you would change for next time?"

Shelby shook her head while staring at the table.

"We got to have a little chat, Saturday night," Rachel brought up. "You know, get caught up with each other after the last year of not seeing each other. I thought it was nice."

Luke looked back over at his little buddy, noticing the kid looked a little tensed.

Lauren changed the subject, directed towards everyone. "I've thought about what to do for this week's session and what we should do," she began. "It actually occured to me, it's been a few years since I last seen Shelby. Now that she's older and seems a little more open, I would it if the two of us could have a one on one session."

Lauren looked between all three as she spoke, eventually stopping on Shelby. "Would that be alright with you, Shelby? I'd like to catch up with you, myself, and maybe get more of your side if you would be willing to share. It can even stay between us until you're ready to share with Mom and Dad. That sound like a plan?"

Shelby nodded timidly without looking up.

So, Lauren turned back to Luke and Rachel. "You can wait out in the waiting room and I can come get you when we're through. Okay?"

Luke and Rachel agreed, and pushed their chairs back to stand up again.

On Luke's way out, he leaned over to remind Shelby, he'll be right outside in case she needed him, and kissed the side of her head.

Rachel waited for him in the doorway. He then followed her back out to the waiting room where she re-took her same seat. Luke remained standing this time and paced around the room, occasionally softly punching the palm of his hand to the side of his other fist.

He read the posters and signs the office had tacked to the walls.

A few minutes later, Rachel got his attention to tell him, she was going to get a book out of her car and would be back in a minute, right afterwards. Luke continued to pace around the room at a casual pace, looking over when she returned with said book in hand.

To make small talk, he asked with curiosity, "What'cha reading there?"

Rachel had sat down again and had already opened where she had left off. "Uh, _West with the Night_. It's a memoir of the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, from England to the U.S."

"Oh," he gave a short nod. "Sounds interesting."

"It is," she said in agreement. "Very fascinating."

Luke didn't say anymore, not wanting to keep her from her reading, but also wasn't sure what else to say. Instead, he continued his pacing. At one point, he asked the secretary for the restroom key and went inside the single, unisex restroom, returning it afterwards. Luke eventually sat down to look through the pile of old magazines, finding a Sports Illustrated magazine and started to skim through it.

Halfway through the magazine, Rachel got his attention this time.

"Yeah?"

She had set her bookmark inside the page she was on, closing the book. "Uh, I understand doing every other weekend and I do think that is a good idea."

"But," Luke said, knowing well there was something more.

"The reason I was asking if Shelby would like to come over again this weekend was because my nephew's birthday is this weekend."

"I know," Luke nodded. "We got the invitation in the mail, the other day, and I already RSVPed with your sister."

"That's great," she replied. "I just figured it would be easiest since I was also going, Shelby could come stay at my house and she could come with me so you wouldn't have to drive there and back, twice."

"I was invited, also," he told her.

Rachel looked surprised. "You were?"

Luke gave a short shrug. "Well, since it's your nephew's birthday, that means your dad was going to be there. So, Rebecca and I figured Shelby probably might not want to go with him there and since Kevin wants her there, we decided I'd come along for Shelby's sake."

"I'm sure I can be enough support for Shelby," she tried to offer.

"As much as I'm not really looking forward to being at a kid's cartoon themed birthday with screaming kids, I'd rather I'm there for Shelby right now while we're still sorting everything out."

"That's fair," Rachel agreed. Though, Luke could tell she was a little disappointed. "You do know Kevin's turning fourteen, right? I doubt there's going to be screaming kids. My niece just started school so my brother and his family won't be there, unless my sister and her husband has friends with kids."

"She says there'll be a ton of people there from their church and Kevin's school, and to be prepared for chaos," he said what Rebecca had warned him about over the phone.

"That's why I've never been a fan of birthdays. They can get so out of hand, sometimes." Rachel causally picked at the top of her book. She looked up to add, "I'm not even sure why Rebecca is letting Kevin have a cartoon themed party, still, when he's turning fourteen. By the time we were fourteen, our parents either took us out to eat or made us a special dinner with the family at home."

Luke just shrugged. "I'm not big into parties either but if that's what the kid wants, I'm sure it's fine."

"Shelby says her friends' family went out to eat for her birthday," Rachel casually mentioned.

"Yeah, she told me, too. We haven't really thrown her another party since her sixth birthday," he said. Though, Luke never really thought about it until now, remembering for her seventh, they just went to a baseball game and a movie, and went to dinner afterwards. Shelby hadn't really requested a party. To his knowledge, anyway. Also to his knowledge, the kid wasn't really invited to parties either, aside from the twins', and theirs were usually with family and close family friends. As a kid, himself, Luke hadn't been invited to many birthday parties, having been the quiet kid in school like Shelby was, except when someone ticked him off. He actually felt guilty the same seemed to be happening to his kid and wondered if she cared or not. He remembered Shelby telling Lorelai about not wanting to go to that birthday party the week before school started. Did Shelby really not care or was she just bottling up her true feelings? She seemed excited when they got the invitation in the mail to her cousin's party. Or was it because it was for the cousin Shelby seemed to be the closest with?

"Luke. Luke. Luke." He snapped out of his thoughts when Luke heard Rachel calling him.

"Huh?"

"I was asking if you ever got the chance to let Shelby know we both were chipping in to get her a brand new bike," she repeated. "I never heard anything since we talked about it, last month."

"Oh, uh, Shelby doesn't want a new bike." Luke shook his head. "She says she prefers her scooter over a bike. So, we fixed up her old one and donated it for a kid who couldn't afford one."

Rachel smiled at that. "That was very sweet of her."

"Yeah, she likes donating her old clothes that doesn't fit, and are still in good condition, too."

"That little girl surely has your heart," she commented knowingly.

Luke had to agree to that but of course remained humble and modest. He did notice Rachel drop her gaze to the table between them, resting her chin on the back of her hand.

"What?" he asked sincere.

"Nothing," she replied quickly, shaking her head.

But Luke didn't buy it. "No, really," he insisted in a caring tone.

Rachel lifted her head a little to reach back and play with her hair she had pulled back in a ponytail, her arm on the back of the chair beside hers. It took a moment as if she was trying to find the right words to say. "I don't know if it's selfish or not… Aside from my dimples," she quickly inserted, "and the tomboy phase."

Rachel paused again. She took in a breath, letting it out slowly. "All I see is you. She's ninety percent you." She held a shrug for a brief moment. "I just wish…" Again, Rachel shook her head, holding her eyes closed. "I'm sorry."

Luke sat up from where he was slouched in his seat. "Nothing to be sorry for," he assured her. "I'm sure lots of parents hopes to see a part of themselves in their kid."

Rachel sighed silently. "Yeah." She shrugged once more. "Maybe I should be grateful she has my smile and childhood phase, at least."

"Your smile was actually the best feature I loved about you." Luke smiled for her which made Rachel looked up and smiled in return. "And the whole tomboy phase worked out, to be fair. I would be extremely lost had Shelby been a little princess." He laughed at that which Rachel did too.

"Yeah, can't really see you having tea parties and braiding hair. However," she pointed at him, seemingly like he had cheered her up, "a part of me is curious to see you wearing a princess outfit, complete with toy jewelry and painted nails like my brother has gone through with my niece." Rachel snickered at the out loud thought.

Luke just glared at her, unamused. Thank God, his nephew was born a boy and his kid, a tomboy. At least if Shelby grew out of it, she would be passed the dress-up/princess stage. Unless for some reason Liz winds up with another kid or if _he_ even has another kid someday…

He ended up having to shake the thought away, quickly before his mind went down that path again, it occasionally goes down.

"You okay, Luke?" he heard Rachel ask with concern.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired, is all. I'll probably grab a tea on the way home when we stop for gas." Luke rubbed at his eyes to play the part. Thankfully, it seemed like Rachel at least accepted it. He did spend a good bit with this woman in a relationship, though and knew him enough to know when something was on his mind. He was also thankful when the door opened and Lauren appeared with Shelby.

Luke looked at his watch as he stood to his feet. An hour had passed already?

"We ended up talking longer than expected, but I think it was well worth it," said Lauren. She looked over at Shelby with a smile. "Huh, Shelby?"

Shelby was standing there with her hands shoved in her pockets like Luke has seen Jess stand. Okay, so maybe him and Rachel weren't the only ones the kid took after. She shrugged as a response but Luke knew that could also mean yes.

Lauren accepted it, though. She turned back to him and Rachel. "It took a while before Shelby was willing to chat with me, so I suggested we just color a picture of our families. She was eventually able to get some words out and we were able to chat about a few things. There are some she's not willing to share quite yet but there are a couple that we can talk about next week since we're out of time."

"That actually reminds me." Luke remembered he wanted to ask for either meeting less or a later time. "Would be possible…? I mean, Shelby has to miss a good chunk of the end of a school day to come here."

Lauren nodded to show she was listening.

"I was wondering if we could meet later in the afternoon or even every other week?" He asked.

"Yeah, we could do whichever you'd prefer, no doubt," she replied. "Our office closes at five, so we could do four. And, we could even meet every other week if you feel that would be better."

Luke looked over at Rachel. "That work for you?"

"Yeah, that's fine," she said. "I mean, it would be around seven when we'd make it back home. Eight, if there's heavy traffic. But, every other week would work with that."

Luke shrugged. "I can have John and Caesar fill in for me while I'm gone, so it works for me." He made sure to check with his little buddy to make sure she got a say in the decision, in case she still wanted every week instead. "That sound good to you, kiddo?"

Of course, he received another shrug.

"You sure," Luke made sure.

This time, she nodded.

"Okay, so not next Tuesday but the following Tuesday, we will meet again and talk about what Shelby and I talked about." Lauren led them over to the secretary to make sure to get the next appointment booked which Luke signed them out.

"Have a good week," she waved at them.

"You too," Luke and Rachel each returned.

"Bye, Shelby."

Shelby waved at Lauren as they both headed towards a door. The adults exchanged good-byes as they headed outside.

"Don't forget your ball, peanut," Rachel reminded Shelby as they made their way down the sidewalk towards the parking lot. "I'm parked over here." She pointed in the direction of her SUV.

Luke and Shelby followed Rachel over, where she opened the passenger door on the driver's side and reached in to grab Shelby's ball from the floor. She handed it to Shelby, who took it from her.

"Thank you," Shelby said, softly but loud enough her parents could both hear her, clearly.

"You're welcome," Rachel told her, cheerfully. "I had to ask Roger when I couldn't find it. It got left on the floor in the garage after you both were playing with it so he had put it with his sports stuff out there until you came over again. Now, I'm not trying to nag you or anything, and you're not in any trouble, okay? I just need you to try and remember not to leave any of your stuff lying around. Not only does it not look nice, it can also be a hazard, as well, especially in the garage. We could have ran over it or your ball could have gotten stuck underneath one of our cars and that could be bad."

Shelby nodded timidly but didn't say anything.

Luke would have said something but he had to admit, those were good points Rachel was making.

"Just wanted to let you know," she assured Shelby. "I'm not upset or yelling at you. Okay, peanut?"

Again, Shelby nodded.

Rachel then asked for a hug which Shelby willingly gave. It was still a one armed hug but a hug, regardless. "Love you, peanut," she reminded her as they hugged. "Always will." Rachel smiled.

Shelby was the one to let go and step away.

"I guess I'll see you both on Saturday," she looked between both Luke and Shelby.

Shelby looked up at him at that as Luke told Rachel, "Yeah, I guess so." He gave a small smile as he waved before heading in the direction of his truck. Shelby also waved towards her mom as she followed him.

When they were out of earshot, Shelby finally spoke. "Mom is coming to Kevin's birthday party?" she asked while dribbling her ball between her hands.

"Yeah, we were talking about it while you were in, talking with Lauren," he said. "I guess that's why she had asked if you wanted to come over again this weekend so I wouldn't have to make several trips up here."

"Oh," she replied, watching her ball bounce.

"She understands why I'm going, though, and is okay with it." Luke assured her. "Hey, at least you'll be able to still her." He tried to keep things positive for Shelby's sake.

"Yeah, tha's true." Shelby gave him a positive smile, as well.

Reaching the truck, the two of them headed to their sides to climb in and head home.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The rest of the week went fairly well for both Luke and Shelby. Of course, Lorelai stopped by a couple times, though they couldn't help notice not as often as she usually did. She did stop by on Thursday for a cup of coffee which she chatted with him, which also included teasing him, especially when it was slipped that him and Shelby were going birthday present shopping that afternoon for Kevin's birthday.

"You're gonna go present shopping?" she questioned as if in disbelief.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"You, Luke Danes?"

"Yes."

"The person who gave Rory, embroidered monogram towels almost every year for her birthday?"

Luke let out an annoyed sigh up towards the ceiling before turning back to the woman. "Look, Rachel's sister gave me a few suggestions, plus I'll have Shelby with me. It will be fine," he pressed in his firm tone.

"Or, you could give me your credit card again and I can take Shelby for you," she continued to also press but in a more lighthearted tone, reminding him she had gone shopping for Rachel's birthday for him.

"Yes, and the last time I trusted you with my credit card, you went on a shopping frenzy and bought a bunch of useless clothes, half of which I had to return." He leaned forward on his hands.

Lorelai held a finger up to him, turning her head to look at him sideways, "But, did I, or did I not save your hiney that day?" she pointed out.

Luke rolled his eyes. "It's still not happening, this time." A customer on the other end of the counter got up to leave which Luke went over to grab the money he left, wishing him a good day, and took it over to place inside the cash register.

"Come on, let me go shopping for you," Lorelai pleaded with him.

"Why don't you just go shopping for yourself?" he questioned of her, holding his arm out to her that was holding the money.

"Because...because I like going shopping with a purpose, sometimes, and I don't have one at this very moment." Luke couldn't help notice the slight stammering. He left it alone, though, and continued sorting the money inside the register before nudging the drawer, closed.

Luke stood his ground, not budging an inch as he stubbornly turned Lorelai's offer down. "Shelby and I will go look around, see if we spot one of Rebecca's suggestions, and be out of there soon."

Lorelai let out a defeated sigh. "Fine." Standing up, she pulled out the money for the two cups of coffee she had and set it on the counter. "But you can forget the tip I was gonna leave."

He grinned. "Ouch," he replied with sarcasm. "I think I'll live." Luke also collected her money, doing the same, as Lorelai glared at him before leaving. Afterwards, he collected all of the dishes left behind from all of the recent customers from the counter.

Later, that evening, Luke had Shelby eat a quick dinner, making her a cheeseburger and fries before they took a trip to the mall and went to all of the stores Rebecca suggested, looking for something Kevin might like. They searched everywhere and neither one of them could decide what to get the teenaged boy.

By eight-thirty, thirty minutes before the mall was to closed for the night, the two had gotten tired. Shelby ended up finding a new edition of a Dungeon & Dragons board game, which had been on the list, and suggested getting Kevin, the game.

"You sure, Shell?" Luke asked.

"Yeah. If this is wha' he likes, and i's something new," she shrugged. So, Luke grabbed the game off the shelf and took it up to the register to pay for it.

The next day, after school, Shelby took the time to make a card for her cousin and Luke let her help wrap the game, later that night.

Saturday morning, Luke opened the diner for breakfast until it was time to leave. Shelby helped clean the place up. Since it was the end of summer and one of those lulls that happen occasionally, Luke just closed the diner and gave his employees the day off and would open for a couple hours later that evening when they got back from Providence.

With everything settled and the diner locked up, Luke and Shelby headed out to the truck and headed for the party.

Since Rebecca lived on the other side of Providence than where Lauren's office was, in the residential area, it took an extra forty minutes before Luke pulled up to a house that was all yellow on the bottom half and an ugly grey, rough color on the upper half. The house certainly looked old, even long before Luke's time.

The curb right in front of the house and across the street were packed with cars, probably there for the party. He made sure to park so Shelby's side was facing the sidewalk so she wouldn't have to walk in the street. Once parked, both of them undid their seatbelts, looking over at the house.

"This is where your aunt lives?" he thought out loud to himself.

Shelby shrugged. "I guess. I never been here. I've only been to Grandma and Grandpa's house that one time."

"Well, guess we should head inside, then." Luke opened his door, which Shelby did the same, grabbing the present before sliding out of the truck. He made his way around, side-stepping between the truck and a red BMW, stepping up onto the sidewalk where she was waiting for him before heading up one of the side dirt paths, and headed up the steps to the front porch.

Luke rang the doorbell.

A few moments later, Mike answered the door.

"Hey, you two," the man greeted them, happily. "Come on in." He moved beside the door to let Luke and Shelby inside. Luke thought it was strange the front door basically opened into a closet where they had to immediately step through another doorway. Mike closed the first one behind them, then the second. "Glad you both could make it. How's it, going, Shelbs?"

Shelby held up a thumb's up towards her uncle.

Mike playfully grabbed the top of her head. Chuckling, he said, "glad to hear it."

Luke felt inclined to ask about the "double" doors.

The guy shrugged, twisting around towards them. "It's a very old house. Made in 1900. Guess it was a thing back then. It comes in handy when we have to towel off the dog on a muddy day." Changing the subject, Mike turned back to his niece and asked, "so, do I get a hug?"

Shelby took a step towards the big guy just before Mike grabbed her into a bear hug, leaning over her. He held a long kiss to her cheek. She didn't seem to be struggling so Luke decided not to interfere for his little buddy. Instead, he just smiled at the love she was receiving. A smile might've even appeared on her face, as well. Mike gave her a hard time about the Red Sox shirt she was wearing, stating he'll let it slide she was a fan to be in the house, but only in a harmless, teasing way.

After a few minutes, Mike finally let her go and motioned over to a built in bench seat, to the left of the door, where she could set the present. Shelby took it over and set the present with the others before he led them straight passed the stairs and through another door, across a hallway, and into the kitchen where most of the woman were mingling.

"Becca, look who's here," Mike called over to his wife, who was talking to another lady around the same age.

Rebecca lit up when she saw who it was, holding one arm out since she was holding a red solo cup in the other. Shelby went over and let her aunt hug her. "Hey, girlie. How's third grade treating ya?"

Shelby held a thumb's up towards her aunt, as well.

"Yeah? That's great." Rebecca squeezed her niece once more. She looked up to greet Luke, also, thanking both of them for coming. "There's ice chests with drinks over there," she pointed over at two blue and white coolers and one all white cooler, behind several pairs of legs. "One has soda and one has water in the other. The white cooler has beer for those over the age of twenty-one, so no sneaking, Shelbs." Rebecca playfully poked a finger at her niece, laughing.

"I'll make sure to watch her," Luke played along. Both of them got a smirk out of the kid, knowing they were joking with her.

"Kevin is upstairs in the loft, playing Xbox with his buddies if you wanna go up and say hi," she told Shelby.

Shelby looked over at her dad, nervously.

"Go on," he encouraged her, gently, motioning back towards where the stairs were. "I'll be down here if you need me."

"No one here bites," Mike teased in a harmless way, holding a grin. "Not even Dash." Dash was their Greyhound dog. Shelby hadn't met their dog, but they've told her about him, including that he was very friendly and loved kids.

"When you go up the stairs, there will be a door right next to you on your right. Just head up those stairs and that'll take you up to where Kevin is," Rebecca explained.

"It's technically an attic, but we converted it into a little loft where the boys can play video games and where guests can sleep when they stay over," Mike added. "There's even an extra bathroom in case you need to use it while you're up there."

Shelby patted her dad's arm to silently let him know she was grabbing a water bottle before heading up there. She walked around three ladies talking, to head over to a walkway lined with cabinets, grabbing a water out of the cooler and headed back towards the stairs. While getting a water for herself, Mike asked if she could grab him a beer while she was over there, taking it to him on her way back which he thanked her for.

Luke kept an eye on her until Shelby was out of his sight.

"So, Luke," Mike grabbed his attention again. "How's the diner business treating ya?"

He looked back at the guy. "Uh, good. It's going very well."

After making small talk of how work was going for all three of them, Mike took him back into the front of the house where a group of guys were discussing what sounded like a fantasy football league, taking the back way so Luke could grab a beer for himself.

Mike introduced them as a few of his good buddies, one being a father of one of Kevin's friends from school.

Luke awkwardly said hi, back. This whole thing was so far out of his comfort zone. But, since he did tell Shelby they had to do things out of their comfort zone, now and then, Luke sucked it up for her sake.

"Luke, here, is my niece, Shelby's dad," Mike informed his buddies.

One of them asked what Luke did for a living.

"Uh, I own my own diner," he answered. Surprisingly, the guys looked impressed and asked about it. Luke gave them a quick summary of how the diner came to be, starting with how it used to be a hardware store owned and ran by his father.

The whole thing started out awkward and stressful for the guy. After a while, Mike's buddies managed to make him feel at ease and welcomed. It helped even more when one of them brought up sports. They discussed football for a while before the same one asked if Luke followed football and Luke admitted to occasionally catching a game but was more into following baseball. Thankfully, a lot of them did too and he was able to share more of his input with them.

While standing there, eventually Luke felt something pointy against his leg. Looking down to see what it was, he saw a thin dog with white, short fur with black patches along its back and on top of its head. This must have been Dash.

Luke wasn't much of a dog person himself, though he'd prefer one over a cat, any day. He allowed the dog to sniff around his legs and shoes, as long as that was the only thing the dog did.

Mike noticed the dog there, next. "Oh, hey there, Dashie," he reached down to rub the back of his neck which the dog very much enjoyed the attention, switching over to his owner.

"You a dog person, Luke?" one of Mike's buddies asked.

"I tolerate them, that's pretty much it," he answered.

"Not much of an animal lover, huh?" another teased.

"It's not as bad as it used to be, especially since I let my kid have a pet, last year after having to take home the class hamster." Luke took the last swig of his beer, finishing it.

"Never had to go through the class pet thing," a third guy stated, shaking his head.

"You're not missing much," Luke assured him.

"I have, and it didn't end well either," the first guy said. "Of all the days for a gerbil to buy the farm, it had to be on our weekend. Had to have a funeral for it in the backyard. There was no way I was letting a dead rodent decompose before we could take it back to school to let the teacher take care of it. 'Course, I'd prefer to have toss it in the trash outside but you know how easy your kids can butter you up." He gave a chuckle which Luke couldn't help chuckle to himself, as well. Oh, boy, did he know.

"None of my boys had to bring home a class pet," Mike admitted, shaking his head once. "Remember when we had to bring home a sack of flour?"

A couple of them agreed while the rest said no. The ones that did also shared their experiences. It came back for Luke, as well. He had taken home ec only because the cooking part interested him, not knowing he would also have to take care of a sack of flour. Pretty sure some of that flour went into some pancakes he made the next morning. Yet, there he was, succeeding with a real, live human kid.

The guys laughed when Luke said it out loud. However, as he was snickering along, someone walking by, caught his attention. He didn't want to make direct eye contact to be sure. Luke was positive it was Lloyd. In fact, it was proved when the older man came over.

"What in Sam Hill are you doing here?" Lloyd demanded of him in a grumpy, old man voice.

"Settle down, Lloyd," one of Mike's buddies told him.

"I want to know what _he's_ doing here at my grandson's birthday. He's not a friend, and he's certainly not family." The old man was staring Luke down, though Luke wasn't intimidated in the slightest.

It was Mike who spoke up before Luke could say anything. "He's the father of your granddaughter, Lloyd. That earns him a reason to be here, and I'm pretty sure both Becca and Edna made you promise to behave while you were here."

Lloyd scoffed. "Where is my granddaughter, anyway? I seen her less than the other one, and Katie lives several states away."

Luke did not want to give away where his little buddy has been all this time. In fact, he hadn't seen her come back down since she went up there. Unfortunately, Luke heard Mike tell him.

"I think she's still up in the loft with Kev and his buds," he motioned with the neck of his mostly drank beer, back behind him at the stairs.

Luke watched as Lloyd made his way over to the stairs. Every fiber of his being and every bone in his body told him to follow the guy up there, but for some reason, his feet stayed rooted to the floor.

"You okay, Luke?" the guy on his right asked, with concern.

"Uh?" Luke looked over at him. "Yeah. I'm fine." He looked over again in time to see Lloyd disappear up the stairs.

Luke tried to follow what the guys were discussing next, but he couldn't help vert his eyes back towards the stairs, worrying if things were going fine or not. While they were talking, the doorbell rang once more which Mike went to answer it like he had done for Luke and Shelby, hearing him greet Rachel.

"You must be Roger," Mike greeted, reaching his hand out to shake his hand. He moved to let them in, welcoming the guy to the family. They chatted for a minute before Mike told Rachel, Rebecca was in the kitchen and invited Roger over to meet everyone, introducing him as he had done for Luke, as well.

Like with Luke, they asked what Roger did for a living which he explained he was in journalism for nature and travel magazines, making sure to include how Rachel would take the photos for the articles he wrote. Luke heard his thoughts scoff how Rory could probably write a better article than he could, smirking to himself.

"What's so funny, Luke?" the same guy on his right asked, noticing.

"What? Uh, nothing. Nothing," he denied, quickly shaking his thoughts clear.

Suddenly, they heard Mike cuss to himself while staring at one of those cell phone things.

"What's up?" one of his buddies asked.

Putting the phone away in his back pocket again, he said, "Kev just messaged me." He looked over at Luke. "Lloyd's causing trouble again." Mike didn't have to say more before Luke finally felt his feet move and hurried upstairs.

He heard Mike follow behind, calling out for his wife.

Luke practically flew up the stairs. When he reached the top, he paused. Just as he remembered where the loft was, Mike reminded him. Not hesitating at all, Luke rushed through the door and up the next flight of the stairs that led to the attic where he saw Lloyd standing just inside the door to his right, holding the back of his hands against his sides, spewing out a bunch of words. Luke paid no attention as his focus was on his little buddy.

Pushing passed the old guy, Luke instantly noticed Shelby sitting there on her legs, frozen stiff while staring at the old but well kept wooden floor. Her hands were on her lap as if she had been holding something, possibly one of the game's controllers.

Luke lifted his little buddy up, into his arms. That's when he noticed she was wet. On the floor where Shelby had been sitting, was a puddle.

"She's too big to be held that way," he heard Lloyd say. Why did that sound familiar to him?

Mike also squeezed into the room. "What happened, Kev?" he asked his son.

"I'll tell ya what happened," Lloyd spat but Mike held up his hand towards the old man.

"I was asking my son, Lloyd." Mike held a firm but calm tone. Switching back to his son, he asked again. "What happened?"

Kevin explained how Lloyd had come up to see Shelby. When she would only wave at him, he told her to use her words and to quit being stubborn. When Shelby still wouldn't answer him, Lloyd continued to pressure her until she froze up.

"He then threatened to spank her if she didn't," Kevin finished his retelling of the recent events.

"She needs it," Lloyd insisted.

That was the final straw.

Turning to Mike and Rebecca, Luke thanked them for inviting them and apologized, but stated they had to leave.

Luke stormed passed them, including the two oldest boys and Rachel who had followed them up, out of the room as he heard Rebecca ask, "Seriously, Dad?" Someone then followed after them, hearing Rebecca call out to him. He did not want to stop. He just wanted as far away as possible from that son of a bitch. Shelby was clinging to him for dear life. He turned to head down the next flight of stairs when Rebecca caught up to him.

"Luke, I am so, so sorry," she tried to apologize with full on sympathy. "Just, please don't leave. Kevin was really excited to have his cousin here, today."

"I'm sorry, Rebecca," he told her, calmly and with sincerity. "I gotta get Shelby out of here."

"We can…" Rebecca was about to try and make a compromise when yelling was heard from above their heads. "Damn it," she cussed under her breath. It was still loud enough to hear. Telling Luke not to go anywhere yet, she rushed back up the stairs to the loft. Suddenly, he heard Rebecca raise her voice, ordering someone to get out.

"This is my son's last year to have a party before we switch to family dinners. I will not let neither one of you ruin his special day!"

Soon, Luke heard somebody coming down the stairs, seeing Rachel appear first. She made her way down, stopping when she noticed them.

"How's she doing?" she asked with concern.

"Not good, no thanks to your father," he replied, irritably.

About that moment, Roger came hurrying up the main flight of stairs, followed by Edna. Great, more irritation.

"I heard yelling. What's going on up here?" His question was interrupted when Mike and Lloyd was coming down the other stairs, giving his father-in-law a lecture about holding his tongue for once and letting them handle the kids instead.

Of course, Lloyd still wasn't holding his tongue, expecting respect from his grandkids.

"She waved. What more do you need, Lloyd?" he asked of him, telling Lloyd to keep going when the old man stopped to stare over at Luke. "Becca said, you too, Rachel." Mike directed at his sister-in-law.

"I was making sure Shelby was okay, Mike," she told him, calmly.

"Two minutes." With that said, Mike headed downstairs with his father-in-law, assuring they would take Edna home after the party, who was following her husband. No point in punishing her for her husband's idiocy. Edna kept badgering him why he kept doing stuff like this?

While all of this took place, Luke was busy trying to calm his little buddy's nerves. He hadn't seen her like this in a long time, nor had she had an accident in two years. Shelby held her face buried against his neck.

Rachel came over, reaching out to place her hand against her back, looking around to try and look at their daughter. "You okay, peanut?" she asked, with heartfelt concern.

Luke felt Shelby shift as if to try and bury her face more into his neck.

She tried to offer some apologetic sympathy. "I'm sorry my father scared you." He couldn't help remember how Rachel thought she would be enough for Shelby. Luke didn't want to think what would have happened if he wasn't there to step in for her. "He could be a stubborn, mean, old man, sometimes. He should know by now…"

"Rachel, Rachel," Luke interrupted her. "Not right now."

"I was just…"

"I know," he assured her. "I appreciate it. Really."

Rebecca came downstairs. "Rachel, I need you to leave, too. Not just Dad."

"I told Mike, I was making sure Shelby was alright," she told her sister.

Her sister loosely folded her arms in front of her. "Well, you did, now I really need you to leave."

"Why? Dad was the one…" Rachel tried to argue but Rebecca cut her off.

"Rachel, please," she pleaded, in a soft tone, holding her hand up, towards her. "You and Dad have already caused enough scene at Kevin's party and freaked out his friends. For once, don't fight me on this."

"I haven't seen my nephews for a year," she tried to point out.

Rebecca looked her sister, straight in the face with a serious look. "And, who's fault is that, Rachel?"

Luke looked between the sisters, catching Roger look over at him when Rebecca asked which he ignored. He told Rachel, she couldn't see Shelby, not her whole family.

Without another word, Rachel turned and headed for the stairs leading down. Roger wrapped a loving arm around her when she went by, going with her. When they were gone, Luke looked up to see Rebecca was rubbing her eyes with one hand. Prepping for a fourteen-year-old's birthday party and having to deal with a difficult family seemed like would take a lot out of a person and Luke couldn't help feel sympathy for her.

She looked up. "Again, I cannot apologize enough. I was hoping things would go smoothly for a change. I mean, why would anything happen with all of our friends here?"

Luke could only shrug. "I don't know. I just really want to get out of here," he admitted. "I'm sorry, too."

"I understand," she assured him. "It's just...Kevin really wanted his cousin here. We all wanted Shelby here." Rebecca shrugged. "There's a lot of stuff I very much disagree with how you handle things, especially when you cut my sister out of Shelby's life. But, I also wanted to be able to see my niece so I bit my tongue."

"I appreciate that."

"Please stay. I sent my dad home, we all understand Shelby's shyness and are more than willing to let her go at her own speed."

"Listen, I would but I don't even have a change of clothes for her," he pointed out.

Rebecca shrugged. "I can lend her, an extra robe we have while I wash her clothes for you," she offered. "It's adult sized but it should cover her up enough."

Luke let out a deep, tired sigh.

"Please, Luke? I've been trying very hard to keep in contact with her." It was true. Rebecca did call at least once a week to talk to Shelby, and see how she was doing, and they were growing on the kid.

"Okay, we'll stay," he gave in.

Rebecca let out a happy sigh of relief. She pointed out the bathroom they could use to get Shelby washed off, letting him know there was extra soap under the sink for guests.

Luke thanked her and carried Shelby inside the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Dropping the lid, he sat down and set her on her feet. It took a moment to peel the kid from his neck.

"You doing okay, kiddo?"

Shelby wiped at her eye with her arm before nodding.

"He didn't actually do anything to you, did he?" he felt he had to make sure.

That time, Shelby shook her head.

"Good," he said, relieved.

There was a knock on the door which Luke gave the say for them to come in, thinking it was Rebecca. It was.

Rebecca poked her head in. "Here's the robe I mentioned," she said, raising it a little and set it on the counter by the sink. "Just let me know when you're ready to wash her clothes."

"We will," he nodded and thanked her some more.

Rebecca left the two alone.

While Shelby peeled out of her wet, soiled clothes, Luke looked underneath the sink for the soap, finding a few short stacks of bars of Dove soap, handing it to her when she was inside the bathtub after taking it out of the box.

When she finished washing off in the shower, Shelby dried off with the towel Rebecca had also brought for her, and Luke helped fasten the robe so she was completely covered and rolled up the sleeves for her. Even her socks were soaked since Shelby had been sitting on her legs.

Before they left the bathroom, Luke pulled his little buddy in and hugged her some more.

"I'm sorry, kiddo. I'm really sorry."

"I's okay, Daddy," she softly replied, hugging him around the waist. Her hat had gotten soaked when Shelby had forgotten to take it off before getting into the bathtub, so it soaked Luke's front, a little. He didn't mind, though. The only thing that troubled his mind was his little buddy and how she was holding up.

Eventually, they did pull apart to head downstairs in search of Rebecca. They ended up finding Mike, who told them she was down in the basement. Heading down another flight of stairs… _Dear Lord! How many stairs did they have?_ Luke and Shelby found her, which she had them drop the clothes inside the washer. Luke had also brought down the towel, as well.

Once the clothes were inside, Rebecca closed the lid and started the washer.

Turning back around, she offered her niece a loving hug which Shelby accepted, moving closer to her aunt.

"Were you having fun, at least?" she asked. "Before Grandpa scared ya?"

Shelby nodded up at her aunt.

Rebecca smiled. "Good, I'm so glad." After another squeeze, she let go. "Come on. The food arrived while you were in the shower. You like pizza, wings, and breadsticks, right?"

Perking up quick, Shelby nodded. "Yes, please," she replied, politely.

Both her and Luke couldn't help laugh. Though, Rebecca did question why her hat was wet and how it got wet. Luke explained it was from the shower which helped as it produced more laughs which they all greatly needed, including Shelby. They then headed upstairs before everything was all gone. Despite his friends being there, Kevin saved a seat for his cousin once she had gotten what she wanted, who also made sure Shelby was okay.

Kenneth came up from behind her chair and stole a kiss on her cheek. Thankfully, Shelby grinned when she saw who it was. Keith also came over, wrapping his arms around the kid, asking if she was okay, too, who was home from Yale for the weekend for his little brother's birthday.

Once all of their family and friends had their food, Mike came into the dining room where everyone was eating, stopping by to ask, as he wrapped her in one arm since the other was holding his plate of food.

To his surprise, Mike also asked how Luke was doing. To be honest, he has been a whole lot better.

At least most of Rachel's family were supportive of his little girl.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Just wanted to point out in case anyone doesn't remember the detail from the show. During season four, Lorelai starts cutting back on eating out and stuff, and at one point, Rory points out there is actually food in the fridge. That's why Lorelai isn't coming around the diner as much as she used to. Just wanted to point that out in case anyone asks.**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Despite what happened with Lloyd, the rest of the birthday party went well for everyone, and was a lot of fun for Shelby, too which made Luke glad. After everyone was finishing eating and Rebecca had switched Shelby's clothes over to the dryer, they sang _Happy Birthday_ to Kevin, and passed out slices with scoops of either rocky road or mint chocolate chip ice cream, which Shelby chose mint chocolate for her choice, as did Luke, who only asked for half of what was being served.

Once Kevin and Rebecca finished theirs, at least, they ended the party with moving into the front living room and letting Kevin open the presents he had received from everyone who came. Shelby was glad when he was excited to unwrap the game.

For the rest of the party, it was just more mingling among everyone, unless someone had to leave which a few did. With having a long drive, home, Luke told Shelby, they would be leaving soon, giving her another half hour to spend time with everyone. Edna finally stole a chance to visit with her granddaughter, pretty much keeping her until Luke said it was time to leave.

When he gave the say, Shelby made her way around to say good-bye to her aunt and uncle, which reminded Rebecca to go grab her clothes from the dryer, letting her get dressed in the upstairs bathroom. Having a long drive ahead, Luke also made sure she used the bathroom before they left, as well.

On the drive, home, Shelby ended up falling asleep for most of the trip, waking up just as Luke was driving into Stars Hollow, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

It was around five-thirty-ish when Luke pulled up in front of the diner and parked. As soon as Shelby slid out, she had spotted Lorelai coming out of Doose's and made a beeline, pretty much tackling the woman into a hug. She ended up offering to help Lorelai carry home the groceries she had just bought. Luke just told her to be home before it got dark and Lorelai made the comment, how at least Shelby wasn't charging her, a quarter a bag as Mia had mentioned Luke doing as a boy.

"Tha's no' a bad idea," said Shelby, as if she should have thought of that.

"Uh, yes it is, and we will discuss why that is a bad idea on the way." Luke laughed to himself as he watched the two head in the direction of Lorelai's house.

Rachel called Sunday evening to talk to Shelby and ask how the rest of the party had went.

"If it's any consolation, I'm glad someone yelled at him," Luke told her before he had let Shelby know, she had a phone call. "Probably not the best idea to get in to a fight in front of a bunch of kids…" He shrugged.

Luke heard her let out a sigh. "Yeah, I know. Becca never did tolerate that kind of stuff in her house. Just…" She let out a stressed sigh. "My dad just makes me...crazy, sometimes. I don't know why we keep trying with him when he's never gonna change?"

One eyebrow rose upon Rachel asking that question when the same could be said about her. She may not have been as bad as her father, but Luke could still very well pull the plug on this whole thing. Though, this time he would be smart about it and actually tell Shelby this time. But, he won't. However, how many chances should Lloyd get before they give up on him? It did make Luke think on that one, though he didn't mention any of this to Rachel. At least, not yet.

Eventually, Luke set the phone down and headed upstairs to inform Shelby, her mom was on the phone for her. Pausing her game, Shelby headed over to grab the phone, bringing it back to drop down on the couch again, giving her mom, a quiet hi.

Luke headed back downstairs, heading over to hang up the phone before tending to the current customers.

The third week of school came and went. With it being the final week of August, the air was already starting to turn chilly and showing signs, fall was just around the corner. By this time, Shelby, and somewhat Luke, was slowly learning what kind of teacher she had this year. It was still early enough in the school year where Shelby wasn't struggling and could figure the answers on her own.

At the end of the week, Mrs. Sweeney would send out progress reports, home, to all the parents to let them know how their child was doing with their work and what they could improve on. So far, there wasn't any areas Shelby needed to work on, except speaking up more in class. For now, Miss Kelly had come up with a strategy by giving Shelby a small whiteboard and marker and whenever she knew an answer but couldn't say it out loud when Mrs. Sweeney called on her, or was asking the class for an answer, she could write it out and show her. It took a few days but it did help Shelby share more in class and Mrs. Sweeney was able to give her participation points.

There was one time, during their morning journal writing when Mrs. Sweeney asked the class to write about a time where they played in the rain and Shelby had instead written that she wasn't allowed to play in the rain and explained why her dad had told her about playing in the rain. Mrs. Sweeney had come over and was reading over the kid's shoulder and must have liked it because she put the spotlight on her, telling the rest of the class how Shelby was thinking outside the box and wrote how she wasn't allow to play in the rain.

"I think I turned into Pikachu, Dad," Shelby told him after sharing with him, later that day when she got home.

Luke stared at her with a confused smirk. "Why is that?" he chuckled.

"Because I'm pretty sure my cheeks were really red," she stated.

He snickered some more. "Hey, at least she liked it," he pointed out, shrugging a hand up.

"Yeah, bu' I wish she didn' say anything." Shelby frowned.

"But, what if it helped someone else who didn't know what to write?"

"Well, tha' would be good, I guess." She wasn't fully happy about the situation but it did help perk her up a little, and the kid did like helping others, so that helped too.

The following weekend, Shelby did end up trying again with going over to her mom's. This time, Rachel offered to come pick her up instead of Luke having to drive her there. He did let Shelby know he would come get her if she felt she needed to come home, much to Rachel's liking. Thankfully, Rachel didn't fight him on it. Even with the option still on the table, Shelby did make it through the entire weekend, at least. Being able to call her dad at bedtime, to say good night helped.

They still went hiking again, Saturday morning, and this time, Shelby brought some of her movies with her so they had something to watch after dinner, though, Saturday night, she spent it with Roger, playing video games. He introduced her to a new game called _Crash Bandicoot_ , showing her all the secrets he had learned playing through the game. Luke could not understand how him and Rachel had become a couple when it seemed like Roger was a big kid, himself? Not in a immature kind of way. The video games and sports stuff were helping Shelby get to know her new step father.

The first Tuesday of September was their next therapy session. Like they've been doing, Luke and Shelby met Rachel there and waited in the waiting room until it was their turn. Lauren asked how the last week and a half had been for each of them. Except for that situation with Lloyd at the birthday party and having to be called out in class, it's gone well for Shelby for the most part. Luke was still dealing with the divorce stuff on the side, but he didn't feel the need to bring that up. In fact, Rachel still did not know he was technically married as well and trying to get unmarried. To him, no one needed to know, except maybe Shelby.

Getting things started, Lauren got out their folder she's been keeping on them and looked through it until she found the picture Shelby had drawn the last session, setting it in the center of the table, facing Luke.

Luke couldn't help notice there were quite a few people drawn on the page, in crayon. Each person had their named written, either above their heads or under their feet.

"I'm pretty sure this is the biggest I've seen whenever I ask a child to draw me a picture of their family." She chuckled as they looked the colorful picture over.

In the center of the page was him, Shelby, Lorelai, the twins and their family, and even a few of the townspeople.

Luke noticed both Rory and Shelby's cousin, Keith, were further away in the bottom left corner with a school drawn next to them. "How come Rory is over there with your cousin, Shell?" he asked her.

She shrugged. "Because they're both a' school."

"Yeah, I've noticed she placed everyone in groups depending on where they live," Lauren explained. "Shelby even included her mentor who passed away." She pointed at the top, center of the page where she had drawn Bailey sitting on clouds.

Close to heaven, to the right and just underneath, Luke noticed a figure that was labeled Jess right above his head. To the left of heaven was Rebecca and her family. At first, it looked like they were in heaven until Shelby explained they lived the farthest away than everybody else.

"One particular note that we were able to talk about was this one right here." Lauren pointed at the figure of Lorelai, which made Luke a little nervous , though he wasn't sure why. "As I asked about Lorelai, I've noticed how highly Shelby speaks of her and can understand why she is often compared to you," she pointed a hand over in Rachel's direction.

"And, it's frustrating to me hearing from my daughter, I should be more like her," Rachel expressed.

Lauren nodded in agreement. "Absolutely, that can be frustrating."

"And, I explained to her when we talked a couple weeks ago, not all mothers are like her. I understand Lorelai likes to have fun all the time and stuff like that, and is a lot more relaxed than I am, and that's great. But, I feel I shouldn't have to change who I am just to be a cool mom."

"Right, right. Totally understanding," she continued to agree. "To be perfectly honest, from what Shelby has told me, Lorelai sounds like a best friend kind of mom? Right?" Lauren looked between Rachel and Luke.

Luke jumped in to answer. "Yeah, pretty much. Her and her daughter are the closest mother and daughter I've ever met."

"It's actually not the ideal relationship a parent should have with their children, at least not until the children are grown up."

He stared at the woman, confused, stealing a look with his little buddy. "Why not?" Luke pointed over at her with his thumb, "I call Shelby, my little buddy, sometimes."

"But can you parent without that getting in the way?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah," he nodded. "I've always told her, I'm a dad first, and best friend, second."

"That's good to hear as that's the way it should be." Lauren folded her hands together, in front of her. "I don't know Lorelai, personally, so I can't really make a full judgment call on her parenting. What I can say is, from what I've been told, to a kid, she sounds like the perfect mom which I'm sure is not the case. Nobody is perfect," she looked over at Rachel, "and, I mean no one. There isn't a manuel we can read that can give us all the answers, nor is there a set way of doing things."

"I've tried to explain that to her, but I guess Shelby doesn't want to hear it from me." Rachel shrugged.

"I have also explained to her, Lorelai isn't her mom," Luke added, also holding his arms folded together on the table. He looked over at Shelby, who had been quiet this whole time. This time, she had brought along her Totodile action figure to hold onto as she looked at it, moving its legs and feeling her finger along the toy, casually.

"That's also good," Lauren told him. "Shelby should understand who her mother is. However…" Luke was not expecting a _however_. "It's okay to have other mother figures other than our real mothers. I, myself, had the privilege of having a grandmother and an aunt growing up, who helped shape me into the woman I am today. So, it perfectly okay for Lorelai to be like a second mom if that is how Shelby feels. Right, sweetheart?"

Shelby glanced up from Totodile but didn't say anything.

"Your husband, for example," she continued, pointing a hand at Rachel, "he is Shelby's stepfather, and can very well be a help in making an impact on Shelby's life, as well, and can even become a second father."

That statement made Luke feel uncomfortable and a little defensive. Before he could say something to that, Lauren continued.

"Now, you, Luke, will always be her father. That will never change, just as you, Rachel," she switched back over to her, "will always be her mother."

"But, how can…"

Lauren stopped Rachel, mid sentence.

"Hold on there, Rachel," she said, holding a hand up to her. "As I said, we talked a good bit about Lorelai, including why Shelby feels close to her more than she feels with you." Lauren moved her hands along with how she talked, looking between both parents. "I've known Shelby since she was three. Madison, since she was an infant. Now, we may not know what happened between the ages of five and now, but from what I've gathered from Shelby, herself, she has surely blossomed from the terrified, mute little girl we used to know, and it's because of, not just you, Luke," Lauren pointed at him, "but it sounds like Lorelai had a hand in it, as well."

Rachel tried to object. "I've tried to help. I always seem to be pushed away."

"Shelby has pushed away foster caregivers and potential adoptive parents, too, Rachel, it's not just you. As I said, Shelby grew up, a terrified, mute little girl, bounced around one foster home to the next, hiding whenever she could." Lauren looked between Rachel and Luke. "Has Madison told you, what age Shelby was able to say her first word?"

"Isn't it usually around nine months?" Rachel asked.

"Typically, yes. However, Shelby was more of a late bloomer, I guess you can say."

"How late?" Luke asked. "One and a half?" He tried to remember when his sister told him when Jess had said his first word. Though, pretty sure it was sooner than that.

Lauren shook her head and pointed upward with her thumb.

"Twenty months?" Rachel guessed that time.

But, Lauren continued to shake her head and point up towards the ceiling. "To our knowledge, four."

Rachel suddenly looked surprised. "Four months?" But suddenly looked confused. "Wait…?"

"Four years. To our knowledge, Shelby hadn't spoken a word to anyone up until that time and when she did, it was only to one person."

"Bailey," Luke said, already knowing who it was.

That time, Lauren nodded. "The first five years, kids are still developing, and when someone like Shelby is being moved around and not in a stable environment, it can be hard developing attachments with others and connecting with someone. Before Bailey, Shelby didn't have that constant person in her life and that can make it hard to form relationships as she gets older. After Bailey left and we never heard from her, it left Shelby, devastated, and closed herself off from the world again. Madison and I thought nothing could ever pull her back out again. And then, you came in, Luke." She smiled over at him.

"The first time Shelby came to see me after your first visit, and she didn't bolt behind my desk, I felt a glimmer of hope. Seeing her actually sitting in a chair with me with that hat on over her face," Lauren nodded over at the kid. "I mean, we should have thought to use a hat considering Shelby seemed to have had an interest with hats since she could walk. Though, I could see why, now." She snickered towards Luke, her eyes moving up in the direction of his own baseball cap.

Lauren stopped to clear her throat. "The point I'm trying to make is, those who were the most constant in her life and has been there when she needs someone were the ones who has been successful at connecting with her. I only saw her for an hour, once a week. Madison saw her more than that, and was able to get a little close but not as close as Bailey got, who visited as much as she could, called as much as she could."

Rachel spoke up again. "I do admit, before Luke and I broke up for the final time and I left again, was when Shelby and I's relationship seemed to be at our best. When I came back for her, was the last time she ran to hug me, too."

Lauren slowly nodded, briefly closing her eyes. "And, who else has been there? Besides Luke, I mean."

She dropped her gaze, also closing her eyes, though held them closed for a little bit longer.

"I believe Lorelai being a 'cool mom' may be only a part of the reason why Shelby sees her as a mother figure. Because her and her daughter visits almost every day and invites her over to their house, and is someone Shelby can run to other than her dad and doesn't expect anything out of her, could also be the thorn in your relationship. It could also be why she was able to warm up to...Nicole, was it?"

Luke nodded. "Yeah."

"You were both regularly seeing each other and because of that, got to know Shelby and vice versa, as well."

"She also didn't question how I parent Shelby, unless I asked," he added, with just a hint of sarcasm.

"Nicole wasn't her mother," Rachel was quick to point out.

"Okay, the hostility between you could also be another contributing factor to Rachel and Shelby's relationship," Lauren said, surprising both parents.

"What do you mean?" Luke was the one to ask first.

"If both parents can't agree on a way to parent, the child can actually play off that to get what they want. If you say one thing, Rachel, and Luke says the opposite, Shelby can use that to her advantage," she explained.

"But, I've told Shelby, if she gets grounded at home, that carries over to her mom's house, and the other way around."

"Briefly, you had stated once, Rachel, that you were having to bribe Shelby in order for her to stay at your house. Why?"

"When I first came back, Shelby was sleeping in his bed instead of her own. If she didn't, Shelby would have nightmares," Rachel explained to her.

Lauren nodded. "I remember the nightmares from before, yes. She also had a bed-wetting issue, as well."

"That also stopped when I let her sleep in my bed," Luke added.

Lauren looked impressed, but that also probably went back to the not having anyone when she needed it, back in foster care.

"Eventually, we did get Shelby to successfully sleep in her own bed, but because Luke's apartment is also his dad's old office and basically a studio apartment, she still wasn't completely comfortable sleeping in her own room, even if knowing I was just down the hall, with each of us having walkie-talkies in case she needed to get a hold of me during the night."

"It sounds like you just needed time to transition her from sleeping in one room to her own room," Lauren shrugged.

"Right," Rachel nodded in agreement, "but it doesn't help that Luke gave her the option to come home whenever she felt she needed to, even if it was three in the morning which she took every time Shelby got scared, even after she had successfully made it through the night once when she was upset with him."

"Well, sleeping over at your house through one night, doesn't mean she can successfully do it regularly. It can help her feel more confident in knowing she can, but it won't stop her from still being scared, and if that was the agreement Luke had, and he's willing to go pick her up."

Rachel fell back into her seat, shaking her head.

"I've had other parents say they picked up their kids from a sleepover at their friends' house when they didn't feel comfortable or when something like a nightmare frightened them. It's perfectly understandable."

"But, it wasn't a friend's sleepover, it was during one of my weekends. Which, speaking of, she was able to sleep over at her friends' before she was able to sleep at mine."

"Why was that?" Lauren asked.

"They slept in the same room," said Luke. "Like Rachel said, she was fine when she was at least in the same room, on her own, it scared her too much."

She nodded when he said that last part. "That makes sense to what I was saying earlier."

"Thankfully, Luke did agree to at least have some consequences for when Shelby goes home, but the rewarding I just couldn't get behind. It was a little insulting if you ask me," Rachel shrugged.

"Sometimes, kids do best when there is a reward system," Lauren replied. "I have one for chores with mine."

"And, it did help with her confidence," Luke pointed out.

"I don't mind rewarding Shelby with treats every once in a while, but having to reward her to sleep over at my house seems insulting, if you ask me."

"But you have to look at it from Shelby's point of view," Lauren told her. "It may not have even been you. Shelby may have just needed a push in confidence in order to be able to sleep alone."

"It helped when you 'tarted praying with me and waiting ou'side my door." Everyone looked over when the youngest in the room had finally spoken.

It actually produced a smile from Rachel. She then admitted, to Luke's surprise, "I guess it also doesn't help I'm not the greatest person in the world when it comes to showing affection, and it seems like that's what you like, huh, peanut?"

Shelby nodded in a slow manner, that time.

Rachel dropped her face into her hands, leaning on the table. It seemed like she was holding back tears that were fighting to surface. Lauren must have noticed, as well, because she went over to grab the box of tissues from her desk, bringing them back to set beside her.

Lauren waited a minute before speaking after no tears surfaced. "From what I'm gathering, it sounds to me, there are some insecurities we could work through," she said.

Rachel lifted her head, rubbing her nose between her hands.

Before she could respond, however, Shelby blurted out first. "Mom won' talk abou' 'tuff like tha'."

"What do you mean, Shelby?" Lauren asked her.

Shelby hesitated. Occasionally, she would steal a look over at her mom.

It was Rachel who answered. "When we talked, a few weeks ago, Shelby had asked why I like things the way they are and wouldn't take my answer at first when I said I just like things in a neat and orderly fashion."

Lauren seemed to be in thought. "Rachel, before our next session, would you be willing to come in and meet with me, one on one like Shelby and I did?"

"In regard to, what?" she asked, confused.

"Well, I feel there might be some things that we can sort through that might even be affecting yours and Shelby's relationship. Maybe something from your past? Possibly your own childhood, maybe?"

Rachel stammered a little at that possibility. "W-well… aren't we…here for Shelby?"

"We're here for all of you, not just Shelby," she reminded her, "and I'd really like to eventually talk to all three of you, one on one. Get to know you more so I can get a better understanding of how to help all three of you."

Rachel still continued to question the idea, unsure. "I don't know." She shrugged her hands out to the sides, "I don't really see anything from my past that could be affecting our relationship, especially when I'm trying not to raise Shelby the same way my parents raised me."

Lauren leaned on her elbows with her arms crossed. "And, why is that?"

She shrugged. "Because my father is a close-minded, old fashioned military man who raised his kids with an iron fist. We've been butting heads since as long as I can remember." There was some bitterness and hostility in her voice as Rachel spoke of her father and it was apparent Lauren could hear it, too.

"Well, you don't have to meet with me, one on one," she gave a nonchalant shrug. "But, I feel we can't make full progress until we do." Lauren picked up Shelby's picture to set inside the folder, tapping the folder on the table to straighten all the papers together. She then looked over at Luke. "We can even meet first, if you would be willing to? What do you say?"

"Well…" Luke wanted so badly to say no, as well. It was bad enough they had to do group therapy. Now, he had to come in alone?

He looked between Shelby and Rachel, who were watching him, seeing what he would say. He let out a sigh under his breath. _Be the bigger person, Luke! It's for Shelby, for Pete's sake!_

Luke then heard himself say out loud, "Yeah, sure. We can meet sometime," and felt himself nodding. _Oh, dear lord, what had I just done?_

"Great," Lauren lit up in excitement. "We can either set up a time out at the front desk when we schedule the next group session, or you can wait and call me later."

"Yeah, alright," he agreed, even though he hated the thought of having to talk about his own thoughts and emotions to somebody else.

"So, Luke and I can meet first," she told Rachel, "then maybe you and I can set up a time to meet. That sound like a plan?"

"Uh, sure, I guess. Yeah," Rachel somewhat agreed. Though, some of that possibly have been shock from him agreeing to doing it first. It was a shock to him, really.

So, on that note, Lauren looked at the time and saw their time was up. She walked the family out to the waiting room, setting up the next session. Luke ended up choosing to call her later to set up an appointment for just the two of them, stating he wasn't sure of his schedule at the moment and would have to make sure someone would be covering the diner while he would be gone. Lauren assured him, it was perfectly fine to wait and call him, sensing he was nervous.

Nervous was an understatement, and Luke couldn't help think about it the whole way home. Shelby tried asking if he was alright which Luke assured her, he was.

His little buddy saw right through it, though. "I'll be okay, Dad. Lauren's very nice," she comforted him.

The gesture made him smile over at her. "Thanks, kiddo."

"No problem, Dad," she smiled.

Luke then reached over and pulled her head in to wrap her in a one-armed embrace, briefly reaching down to steal a quick kiss.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **There was some confusion last chapter, on my part, regarding Rachel. Sometimes I tend to unintentionally leave out details and don't even catch it in editing. Sorry about that! The reason why Rachel was kicked out, as well, was because she had gotten into a fight with her father in front of the kids and Rebecca doesn't tolerate fighting in her house.**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Of course it wouldn't be Luke if he didn't put off calling Lauren to set up an appointment to come in and "share his feelings" with her. Since Shelby's little league started later that same week, he used that as an excuse even though practice was in the evenings, after school and still had plenty of daylight to schedule a time.

To Shelby's joy, Alan ended up being on the same team. Actually, both kids were overjoyed to be on the same team. Apparently, while Shelby had been playing basketball and soccer, Alan had been busy playing t-ball and little league, himself.

Since there was already a head coach and two assistant coaches, Luke was left cheering from the sidelines like he had with basketball and soccer. It was actually fine since he could focus more on his own kid and not have to focus on a dozen other children.

During the first practice, on Wednesday, the coach started things off by standing in a circle and doing some stretches and exercises to warm everybody up. While they did, he went around and asked what their names were and to give a cool fact about themselves. When he got to Shelby, Luke heard Alan speak up for her.

"That's Shelby. She's my best friend. It's hard for her to talk at first. If you give her, time, she'll eventually open up little by little," he explained while reaching over to the right side while part way upside down. "She's a tough girl, though!" Alan added that last part with proudness.

Her back was to Luke so he couldn't see her facial expressions but he was sure Shelby was smiling.

After the kids were done stretching and getting warmed up, the coach had them pair up and toss the ball for a while. Of course, Shelby and Alan chose each other. Now and then, the coach would have the kids take away their gloves and just toss the ball back and forth with just their bare hands, wanting to spice things up. He did the same thing when the coach had them take the field and catch ground and fly balls.

While practice was going on, Luke chatted with Alan's dad, Ron.

"Ethan wasn't interested in playing ball?" he asked.

"Nah," he shook his head. "Ethan tried one season of t-ball with Alan, but that's kid's more interested in playing those video games than playing a sport. Alan, on the other hand, has been enjoying baseball." He explained the boys have been in sports since they were five playing soccer and how Alan seemed to be more of the athletic of the two while Ethan moans just being asked to take out the trash. "That's why we were surprised when he told us he wanted to start doing jobs to earn money. 'We have to nag you to take out the trash but you're willing to mow someone's lawn?'" Ron chuckled towards the kids. "'Because I'm not being paid,' he says. We're letting you live here. That should be payment enough."

Luke chuckled right along. "Yeah, I don't pay Shelby an allowance for chores around our apartment. Only when she does extra chores without being asked and when she works downstairs in the diner."

Ron playfully tapped Luke on the side of the knee. "Thanks again for helping Ethan out, letting him pitch in at the diner. It's been real good for him."

"No problem. He's a good kid. Despite the small fight the two was in last Christmas, he's been a great friend to Shelby. A big help, actually."

He shrugged, "Plus, she's really worn off on him, too. She's a good kid, too. Hardworking, that one."

Luke couldn't agree more. But, then again, she was a Danes.

The men continued to chat throughout the practice, and even some more at the next practice the kids had on Friday. Friday was also when the kids had gotten their uniforms and found out what their team name was. This time, Shelby was a badger and their uniforms were an ash grey color.

Halfway through the second practice, Rachel came by to watch since they had worked out to meet there to pick Shelby up for the weekend. After practice, Luke grabbed her duffel bag from the back, handing it to her, kissing Shelby, good-bye in the process.

Up until this season, all of Shelby's sports games had been in the mornings and early afternoon. This time, the games were still on Saturdays, but in the evenings. So, Luke and Rachel had to work out how to schedule weekends at Rachel's around the games. Since she didn't mind driving back up to Stars Hollow for it, Luke and Rachel agreed to that. As long as Luke was able to see his kid play, it worked for him. Though, Shelby was still getting used to staying over at Rachel's, and Luke figured it would work out in case she wanted to come home, early.

Unlike t-ball, little league was more like professional baseball. It was still simpler for the kids, but now they were keeping score and had a kid pitching instead of the coach. Shelby was hoping to be a pitcher but was played in the shortstop position while Alan was played at first base.

Of course, Shelby had her usual cheering section in the stands cheering her on. Unfortunately, that included Roger, much to Luke's liking, who had pulled out a small video camera and was getting it ready while the kids were warming up. Rachel made sure she had plenty of film in her camera, getting up to snag some shots of Shelby warming up and once the game was starting as the announcer was calling each player's name.

The highlight for Luke was seeing Shelby's uniform had her last name across the back of her shirt above the number four, this time.

To both Luke and Shelby's delight, Lorelai had come to support Shelby, promising to drag Rory along whenever she comes home for a visit. That was also when Luke pointed out he hadn't seen her around the diner, lately.

"Oh, just been busy," she said with a causal shrug. Lorelai didn't say more and Luke wasn't pushing it. Though, there was something going on she was not telling him. But, she explained about running into Shelby, who asked the woman to come to at least the first game. "Only this kid could make Lorelai Gilmore come to a sporting event."

Luke smiled at that.

The shutter on Rachel's camera got his attention which was when he noticed Roger holding up a camera while the other team was being announced by name.

"What are you doing?" he questioned of the guy.

Roger shut the camera off so he could answer without recording their conversation. "Recording Shelby's first game."

"Why?" Luke shook his head, confused.

"So, we could remember it. Don't you want to remember your daughter's first little league game?"

"Pictures aren't enough?" he continued to question.

Luke felt Lorelai softly smack him on the arm. "Be nice," she told him, telling Luke to let the guy record Shelby's game. Of course, he wouldn't mind having his little buddy's first little league game recorded on video, but why did it have to be by him, for?

The Badgers were out in the field first as the crowd cheered. Babette, Miss Patty, and Gypsy tried to be the loudest so Shelby could hear them, sitting a few feet from Rachel and Roger on the same bench behind where Luke and Lorelai were sitting, pretty much causing Luke to go deaf in his right ear.

Rebecca, Mike, and their youngest two boys got there later while the Badgers were up to bat which Rebecca sat right next to her sister, apologizing for being late. It was perfect timing because it was two batters ahead of Shelby's turn.

"Let's go, Shelby!" Lorelai called out, clapping for the kid, followed by several cheers from the ladies behind them.

Luke of course tried to give her pointers, reminding her how to hold the bat.

Shelby caught sight of him, giving him a thumb's up before turning towards the pitcher. Since it was still a game played by kids, who was just starting little league, it wasn't exactly like the major leagues and Shelby ended up missing a couple balls, receiving two strikes and a ball. On the next throw, she barely managed to hit it, getting it a few feet towards third base with enough time to dash towards first. The first base coach called her, safe.

"Great hustle, Shell!" Luke called out to her, clapping his hands as Lorelai made a _whoo_ cheer while clapping, herself. The rest of Shelby's cheering section cheered and clapped as well which Luke reminded her to stay focused and be ready.

Shelby got in the ready position, keeping one foot on the base while pointed towards second.

Besides Luke, Mike was also reminding Shelby to be ready, as well.

"Why don't you leaving the parental coaching to Luke?" he overheard Rebecca suggest.

"I can't help it, Becca." Mike aggreggessively bug passionately groaned. "I've missed little league."

Luke had to smile to himself, thinking about just how much support his little buddy had.

The next kid batting after Shelby hit it on the second try and ran towards first. As soon as the sound of ball hitting aluminum was heard, she was booking it to second, where Shelby briefly stopped to see if anyone had the ball yet and dashed over to third. She almost tripped and missed the plate but managed to get at least one foot on the base, remaining there.

Luke couldn't have been more proud, seeing how well Shelby was already doing without him out there.

"Nice one, Shelster!" Mike called out, clapping his hands above his head.

Luke felt a nudge on his upper arm. He looked back as Rachel leaned forward.

"I got it," she assured him, holding her camera up.

He smiled at that and returned to watching the game.

After another kid took his turn, Alan was up next, swinging the bat as he made his way over to home plate.

His own family cheered him on, sitting not far from where Luke was sitting.

"Go, Alan!" Ethan cheered his brother on, happily, having done the same when Shelby had gone up to bat.

"Come on, Alan," Luke cheered his little buddy's best bud on, "bring Shelby home!" Right as he said that, Luke saw the two share a thumb's up before Alan got into batting position.

On the first throw, Alan managed to hit it in the direction of the pitcher which wasn't good for Shelby. But, he was able to get on first while the other had to run for third. That meant Shelby had to go for it.

The pitcher of course went for Shelby as she tried to run home. She tried to slide on her front, causing him to fall on top of her. Her hands were outstretched in front of her, unfortunately Shelby had slid too early and couldn't quite reach home plate, thus striking out.

The small crowd of dust cleared as the umpire yelled, "Out!"

The pitcher got off of her, letting Shelby stand to her feet and sadly made her way over to their dugout.

"It's okay, Shelby!" Lorelai called out to her as Luke yelled, "good effort."

Mike also offered encouragement despite the out as did Rachel, Roger, Rebecca, and the boys.

Shelby stopped to look over when Alan gave another thumb's up for effort. Her coach and other teammates offered more encouragement.

As the game continued, Luke overheard Rachel asking her sister about getting dirt stains out of uniforms. Pretty sure he would be washing Shelby's uniform unless she had a load to do and would just toss it in with it to make it a full load or something.

Alan actually ended up scoring his first run before the teams switched again and the Badgers took the field. Shelby hustled out to her spot with her glove, immediately putting her hands on her knees, ready. At one point, she collided with her teammate that was playing second base when both of them went for the ball, costing them a run.

Mike cupped his hands around his mouth to call out to her. "Only go for the ball if it's in your vicinity, Shelster!"

Luke followed up with, "Mike's right, Shell! Not every ball is yours!"

The next batter hit it towards Alan's side of the field, anyway but Luke noticed Shelby kept watch on where the ball went. In fact, no matter where the ball went, Shelby kept an eye on it, letting the kid playing second base get it the next time it went in his direction. There were quite a few times when the ball went directly to her. One, she even had to throw to second to try and get the batter out.

By the end of the game, it was completely dark out and the field was lit up in the field's spotlights that were scattered around. The score on the scoreboard was twenty-two to nineteen with the other team ahead.

Since the kids were older and had more of a hang on the sport than when Shelby was playing t-ball and had a longer attention span, the game lasted longer. At one point, during halftime, Lorelai had to leave to check out the snack bar, coming back with both a hot dog and popcorn, as well as a drink, offering some popcorn to Luke.

The Badgers were the last at bat. Shelby was pretty much covered in dirt splotches all over her uniform from sliding into bases. A few times, she even had to slide for the ball. All the practice he had done with her, whenever they could, were really paying off, showing how much Shelby has improved from her first t-ball game.

Like before, Shelby was fourth up to bat, making practice swings while waiting for her turn. Her teammate ahead of her managed to hit the ball on the third try, making it all the way to second. Shelby made her way over as her cheering section cheered for her. She picked up her teammate's bat, handing it to her coach who playfully patted her helmet.

"You got this, Shell!" Luke called out to her.

Rachel had moved down to stand at the fence opening, snagging a few pictures. "That's okay, peanut!" she called when the ball had soared right passed the kid, who hadn't tried to hit it.

"Good eye!" Mike called out. "Come on, Shelby! You got this!"

"Come on, Shelby!" Kenneth cheered followed by a loud whistle from Kevin.

On the next throw, Shelby managed to hit it, this time, farther than the first time. As soon as she hit the ball, she dropped the bat and booked it to first and kept right on going until she got on third. Despite having gone up to bat since the first time, Luke knew this was her moment to make up for the first one, now that she had found herself on third again.

With one foot on the base, Shelby leaned forward on her other knee, holding both hands on it. Knowing baseball well, he knew when Shelby could go and knew she knew, as well. On the other hand, Lorelai didn't, having been asking questions throughout the whole game.

Shelby waited for a perfect moment, letting the next two get on first and second which meant she was going to have to make a run for it, next hit which Luke explained to Lorelai.

"Even if that means she gets out again?" she asked.

"Yeah, because the kid on second is gonna have to run to third, next," he nodded over at second.

"Why can't both of them stand on the base?"

"Because there can only be one player to a base."

"But, what about that kid, standing with Shelby? He's at the same base," she pointed out.

"He's not actually on the base, he only touches it when he has to get the runner out before they get there," he explained again. "Plus, he's on the other team."

"Doesn't anyone know how to share? If Shelby can't go, then her and her teammate should share a base," Lorelai protested that time.

"Because, that's not how the game's…" Luke abruptly stopped when he heard Alan hit the ball and run towards first just as Shelby was booking it towards home. In fact, this time, Alan hit it so far, not only did Shelby make it home but so did their teammates on first and second, followed by Alan, who had to slide just as the catcher caught it. The umpire called safe on him, though.

But, as soon as Shelby slid into home, Luke and the rest of her cheering section were on their feet. Once the boys made it, the rest of their whole side of the bleachers were on their feet. The Badgers had taken the lead and won their first game. It was a close game and both teams had played well.

The rest of the Badgers ran out from the dugout and surrounded each other, congratulating their teammates and cheering they had won. Once the excitement had died down, they put their hands in a circle and chanted, "two, four, six, eight, who do we appreciate? Gamecocks!"

While the teams were exchanging high fives in a single file line, Lorelai left to throw away her trash.

Luke moved to stand right outside where Shelby would be coming out of. As soon as she came out, he lifted her up, squeezing her proudly. He then set her back down on her feet and held up his hand for a high five. "Great job out there, kiddo," he told her. Luke also gave a high five to Alan, too. "Both of you did awesome."

"Thanks, Luke," Alan replied with a smile.

Ethan ran over to his brother and best friend. "That was totally wicked!" the boy exclaimed and offered high fives to both of them, as well.

Luke and the kids moved out of the way so others could get through, meeting up with the rest, who congratulated the kids for their victory.

Mike lifted Shelby up into a bear hug just as Luke did, passing her over to Kenneth, both of them stealing a kiss or two before setting her down on her feet again.

"So, guess this calls for ice cream on the way home?" Roger said, his camera now inside a black, over the shoulder, carrying case.

"Yum, that sounds delicious," Babette commented, playfully. "Right, sugar?" She nudged Shelby in the arm, teasing her to bring her, one, too to make Shelby laugh.

Rachel invited Alan and his family to join them, as well.

Luke walked with them to the parking lot as Shelby walked with Lorelai, who was busy repeating all what he had taught her, trying to sound like she had known along. Shelby looked on, impressed and asked him if he had known about Lorelai suddenly getting knowledgeable about baseball.

"Shell, I'm the one who told her all that when she kept asking throughout the whole game," he told her, as she should have known.

"Oh," she said.

Luke just smiled and pulled her in for one last hug and kiss. "See ya, tomorrow, kiddo."

"Bye, Dad." Shelby returned the hug and kiss. She waved when Rachel told her, they were leaving, heading over to where Roger had parked.

Luke watched as Rachel folded her seat down to let Shelby climb into the back of the roofless jeep, making sure she fastened her seatbelt before sliding into his truck. When it was clear, Luke pulled out of the parking space and headed back to the diner to start closing up.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Rachel brought Shelby home, Sunday afternoon, after the two spent the day together running errands she needed to run. For the most part, the errands were boring to Shelby, but then again, Luke had dragged the kid on boring errands a few times himself when she had to tag along. Thankfully, Rachel threw in some fun stuff in between and tried to talk with her whenever they could.

Shelby still wasn't one hundred percent open towards her mom as she used to be, but before she took her stuff upstairs, gave Rachel, a side hug but no kiss. Shelby still allowed Rachel to give her a kiss on top of her head, at least. The girls also made sure to tell Luke, there had been a trip to a local game store that was in Woodbury. Rachel assured Shelby had used her own money.

"She said, she was allowed to buy games herself," Rachel told him, "so, I believed her but told her, if you said otherwise, there would be consequences."

"Yeah, it's fine. It's her money," he shrugged. "If Shelby wants to buy a game, she can. She just can't receive them as a gift unless it's her birthday or Christmas."

"Even if the gift giver was willing to, just because?"

Luke shook his head. "Nope. Right, Shell?" He motioned his head towards the kid, who nodded. "But, if you really want to buy her anything just because, it has to be something small, like ten bucks or less. Like _Pokemon_ cards, for an example."

Rachel nodded but gave him a strange look. "Okay, so anything extravagant like video games are saved for birthdays and Christmas, and…"

"Small things like one of those small packs of cards that comes with, like, ten cards or something, are okay. Not the packs that you get, like, a whole deck. Those cost up to fifteen dollars, and don't even get me started on why a bunch of trading cards would cost that much. I used to pay less than that for a deck of baseball cards." He saw both girls roll their eyes at him, but both were grinning, finding it, amusing.

Eventually, Shelby excused herself to go take her stuff upstairs and to check on Gexie.

Once she was gone, Luke cleared his throat. "The only reason I say _Pokemon_ cards is because my nephew would bring home packs of cards for Shelby whenever Wal-Mart would first get them in stock."

"Why would he do that?" she asked.

"He worked there most of last year and worked in the back where they would get the shipments in," Luke answered, now wiping down the counter, clearing stuff as he came upon a dish. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Rachel looked surprised.

"He got a job at Walmart?"

"Yeah, did real well. Even made employee of the month at one point." Luke couldn't help sound proud.

"Hm," he heard Rachel say. "Guess the guy can be responsible when he wants to be."

Luke didn't say anything and decided to let that comment go by. It wasn't even worth a breath of air to convince her, or anyone else, otherwise.

Unfortunately, it did not end the topic. "Well, I'm really glad you finally took action with him, Luke. I'm sure it wasn't easy but Shelby doesn't need to be around that kind of recklessness."

"He still keeps in contact with her, Rachel," he told her, bluntly. "In fact, she's the only one he keeps in touch with."

"And, you let it happen?"

Luke finally looked back up at her, giving her a cold stare. "Yes, I do," he said and left it at that, and asked her to leave.

He heard her let out a deep sigh before she said, "Fine, Luke. Can I order an iced tea for the road?" Rachel went to reach for her wallet in her back pocket when he told her, "Nope."

"Why not?" she questioned, confused. "I'm not asking for one on the house. I am willing to pay the eighty-five cents."

But, Luke continued to not budge, exercising his right to refuse service.

As she was leaving, he called out, "Oh, expect a complaint to be brought up next week during the session." It was long overdue to put this tiff Rachel has with his nephew behind him. Or, at least teach her to keep comments like that to herself. He shook his head when she was finally gone.

Shelby eventually came back downstairs, wanting to help out, despite things being chill which had led to Luke sending Ethan, home earlier since there wasn't much for him to do. She at least cleared a table that needed it, but ended up sitting at the counter and telling her dad all about her weekend, and even talked more about her game, the night before.

While they were talking, the bell above the door rang, alerting them there was someone new coming in. The two looked up to see Dean and his fiancee, Lindsey coming over.

Dean greeted both Luke and Shelby, individually, letting Shelby hug him with one arm. "I hear you're playing baseball again," he pointed out, making small talk.

Shelby nodded.

"Not doing basketball anymore, or are ya taking a break?"

"A break," she replied softly since she didn't know Lindsey that well.

"Well, it's good you haven't given up basketball. You were pretty good," he commented which made Shelby smile. "Maybe Lindsay and I can stop by one of your baseball games. You know, before the season is up."

That also made her smile and gave a nod.

"Yeah," Lindsay agreed before changing the subject. "Hey, I hear you put on shows during town meetings for the townspeople?"

Shelby had reached for her rootbeer, taking a drink while Lindsay was speaking. She set the cup back down as she nodded her head.

"We were wondering, and would even be willing to pay you a little something for it, if you would be willing to sing something at our wedding, next Sunday," she offered.

Luke was nearby, writing in his ledger, listening when he heard Lindsay ask. He looked up to see Shelby exchange a look with him, but then looked back when Lindsay continued.

"I know it's short notice, and you don't have to if you don't feel comfortable, but it would be really awesome if you could and great experience for you. Don't you think so, Dean?" The young woman looked to Dean.

"Yeah, definitely. But," he quickly added, "we will understand if it's too much right now, especially with the short notice. I told Lindsay, it's not easy for you speak, much less sing, in front of others. So, it's totally your call."

"You can think about it and let us know by, say….Tuesday?" said Lindsay.

Shelby gave her a nod.

"Okay, then." Both Lindsay and Dean thanked the kid for hearing them out, before saying bye.

After the couple left, Shelby had remained silent for a while, possibly thinking on their offer. This was her first requested appearance so this was huge for the kid. Well, unless one counted solos for school performances.

"Dad," she said during dinner, later that evening.

"Yeah?" he replied, scooping mashed potatoes onto his fork.

"Would…? I mean, I'm no' saying I would, bu' if I did, is it okay if I sang a' Dean's wedding?"

He shrugged. "Sure, if you want to."

"Do you think I should?" she continued to ask.

"That's up to you, kiddo," he told her. "If you think you're ready for something outside of town meetings, then I say go for it."

"Bu', I only sing country, though. I don' really know any other music besides Jess' and wha' Lor-lai and Rory lis'ens to."

Luke gave another shrug. "Tell'em that. I'm sure Dean and Lindsay would be willing to compromise. If not, well, it couldn't help to branch out. A lot of famous singers have sung songs that weren't in their normal genre."

Despite the advice, Shelby still did not give a definite answer and continued to think on it.

The next day, after school, Luke had come upstairs, overhearing her on the phone, asking Jess what he thought. He didn't stay long, just grabbing his pocket knife Luke had left up there so he could open a box of pickles. By the sound of it, it seemed like Jess was encouraging the kid to take the "gig" despite knowing him and Dean weren't exactly pals. Luke smiled as he shut the door to the apartment behind him. There still wasn't an answer until Dean and Lindsay came by the diner, Tuesday afternoon.

At first, she told them what Luke had suggested, and told them about having only sung country music but was willing to branch out.

"No, country's fine if that's what you're comfortable in. I like it too," Lindsay was the one who reassured her, it was fine. "Do you know any Shania Twain or Jo Dee Messina?"

"A li'tle, yeah," she said, shyly.

"Perfect. It's gonna be at noon on Sunday, at the church. Okay?"

Shelby nodded. "Okay."

The kid was suddenly bombarded in a hug by Lindsay, who thanked her which Dean apologized for, afterwards. "I's okay," she assured this time. By the look of it, the gesture only caught her off guard.

"So, I guess, we will see you Sunday, then," said Dean before they left, which Shelby waved towards them. Before he left, though, he suddenly remembered and asked her, "Chicken or beef?"

"Um, chicken?" she replied, unsure of what Dean was asking.

"Alright, then, we'll put you down for chicken." They also told Luke he could come too, which he said, he'll think about.

"You don' have to come if you don' wan' to," Shelby told him after the couple was gone.

"No, it's okay. I'll probably just come to see you sing," he assured her.

"Yeah, I know, and i's okay. I don' wan' you to feel bored." She was leaning her folded arms on the counter, looking up at him.

"It's okay, really," Luke persisted. "Besides, I wouldn't miss my little buddy's first gig."

Shelby smiled brightly at that. "Thanks, Dad."

Luke leaned forward to kiss her right on the forehead. "You're welcome, kiddo."

So, for the next few days, when she wasn't in school or at little league practice, Shelby practiced for Sunday. Since she would need all the time she could, Luke insisted on taking the week off from helping in the diner, especially since she was always helping out almost every day and he did not want her living his childhood. He remembered spending countless hours in his father's store when he should have been out being a kid and did not want Shelby having any regrets when she was older.

Shelby tried to tell him, she was okay with helping in the diner but Luke stuck to his word and assured he would ask Ethan if he would like to fill in and make extra cash that week. Of course, the boy was thrilled when Shelby told him, the next day.

Once it had been settled to have Ethan fill in for her, Shelby had told him, she was going over to Lane's, to ask if Lane had any CDs of Shania Twain or Jo Dee Messina since the girl had music from every single genre known to man and spent the rest of Tuesday, listening to both singers, trying to pick one that sounded like it could be sung at a wedding, mostly focusing on the songs Lane had suggested. The girls did get to bond a little while she was over as they listened through CDs, despite Shelby's fear of Mrs. Kim.

It ended up coming down to two songs. Jo Dee Messina's _Because You Love me_ and Shania Twain's _From This Moment On_. In the end, the winner was Shania Twain, just because it stood out more to Shelby, and thought it fit more for the occasion. Both Luke and Lane agreed the song matched Dean and Lindsay, as well, so there was that.

So, over the next few days, Shelby practiced the song every chance she could. It got to the point where Luke heard her sing it while brushing her teeth, or in the shower, watching TV, or playing video games. When she was actually practicing, Shelby was also teaching herself on his guitar. By this point, it seemed like his old guitar now belonged to both of them. In fact, Shelby was even using it more than he was.

On Saturday, the diner had a nice surprised visit from Rory, who was home visiting for the weekend on a spur of the moment thing because of laundry. Shelby was most excited, running over to hug the young woman, and had lunch with the Gilmore girls since Shelby hadn't eaten yet.

Of course, Shelby had the guitar with her, holding it slung behind her whenever she was standing. While she was sitting, Shelby held the instrument on her lap, playing in between bites. Lorelai had already heard her play, having been excited for the kid when she found out Shelby would be singing at the wedding. Shelby offered to play it for Rory, who politely declined.

Despite it being a month and a half early, Luke overheard Shelby ask Lorelai if she could help make her costume for Halloween, this year, since she already had experience making elf ears. Hearing the words, elf ears pretty much was a dead give away what Luke figured the kid wanted to go as, seeing how much Shelby had been playing her _Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker_ game the last few months since Lorelai got it for her birthday. It would be obvious she would want to dress up as Link, the main character the player plays as.

Lorelai gladly accepted.

Luke came over after they finished eating, to refill the older girls' coffee while they were talking about the wedding and how apparently fate was making them go which then brought on another one of his rants about how there was no fate, no destiny, no luck. Astrology is ridiculous, Tarot cards tell you nothing, you cannot read a palm, and tea leaves make tea and nothing else. Jim Morrison is not hanging out with Elvis and the Kennedys did not kill Marilyn. Of course, Lorelai mocked him, which Luke reminded himself, it was his fault for coming over and walked away to refill other customers' coffee.

Miss Patty stopped by the diner at that point to give Lorelai, her mail with an urgent letter from Taylor about the work she was having done on the Dragonfly and needed to speak to him. Shelby ended up tagging along, being curious. Luke gave the okay but told her not to be long since they were leaving for her second game in a couple hours.

However, Shelby returned, shortly with a disappointed look on her face afterwards. Because of Taylor, Lorelai had to break her promise to her about bringing Rory to a game the next time she was home from Yale. Since Tom's construction crew would be starting work on the Dragonfly, Monday, Lorelai had to give a presentation during a town meeting which was that night during Shelby's game. It also meant half of the kid's cheering section would be gone, as well. Luke assured her, he would be there, at least, as well as Ethan and his family.

Besides Luke and Alan's family, Rachel and Roger also went, much to his liking since Luke was still upset with Rachel. For the most part, he held a front for Shelby's sake and just focused on the game, instead.

The second game didn't exactly go like the first. The Badgers still did well and got in quite a few runs. The Cobras, however, managed to get in just a couple more runs than them and so Shelby's team lost that game. It was still a close game and both teams played their best.

On the way to the truck, Luke reminded her, they couldn't win them all.

"You did great out there, though," he playfully but softly slapped her on the back, trying to cheer her up.

Shelby looked up, forcing half a smile.

Rachel and Roger agreed with him and also tried to cheer her up.

Once the four of them reached the parking lot, they went their separate ways to their vehicles where Luke and Shelby headed back to the diner. Luke had told Caesar, he would close up, relieving the guy when they got home.

Just as Luke was about to start cleaning up, he heard sudden chanting heading straight for the diner. Sure enough, five guys burst through the door, Dean included. It was very apparent at least four of them were drunk as they were stumbling, trying to remain standing.

One of them stated it was Stars Hollow High's fight song which Luke sarcastically said, he swore it was Mozart. He bent over to suggest Shelby head upstairs to shower off and get ready for bed.

"Okay," she whispered to him and turned to head upstairs, waving at Dean, who stated, "that's our little wedding singer!"

Luke assumed Shelby hadn't witnessed someone drunk before when a puzzled look appeared on her face. She then disappeared upstairs as he informed the guys that he was closing up, mocking Dean when he tried to object.

Dean thought it was funny even though Luke wasn't even trying to be funny.

"You wouldn't turn away a man on his wedding day, would ya?" he questioned of him.

"It's not your wedding day yet," he pointed out.

"That's what I keep telling him, dude," one of the guys agreed. "It's your last day of freedom."

"Hey, hey. We should get strippers, right?" another guy suggested.

Dean added, "And, cake!"

A guy in the back held up the menu, stating his name was also Luke and suggested they should start a club.

Luke just nodded him off. "Yeah, that would be swell," he continued with his sarcasm before addressing all of them to go sit down and he would make them some coffee. It actually ended up taking both Luke and the one guy who seemed sober, to help keep Dean standing, who almost fell over. Actually, Luke recognized him as that Kyle, who had thrown that party, a few months back.

Kyle told him, "We really appreciate this, sir."

"Stop calling me that," Luke told him, feeling uncomfortable with being called, sir, catching Dean tell him, he was a good guy. "So, what was phase one?" He had started fixing a fresh pot of coffee.

"A case of beer in the JCPenney parking lot then batting cages and laser tag," Kyle answered.

"I decided I really like beer," Dean stated, happily and laughed.

"I'm the designated driver," Kyle explained.

Luke was wiping his hands together, slowly. "Good man."

"I'm in the Navy now, you know."

"Uniform tipped me off," Luke pointed at him.

"My older cousins did two-year stints. It paid for their college, so I joined up. Of course," the perkiness left him, "we weren't fighting international skirmishes on two or three dangerous fronts like we are now."

The sound of table legs scraping against the floor got Luke's attention, making him look up to see the others were pushing two tables together.

"Hey," he told them, getting their attention, "what are you doing?"

"Sugar football."

"Don't," he said, shaking his head.

"Come on, guys," Kyle scolded his friends. "Respect the establishment." He turned back around as so did Luke, to tend to the coffee, catching him shake his head. "They're still kids."

"I got a better idea, guys," Luke decided to announce. "How about I whip up some pancakes real fast, help soak up whatever it is you drank."

"Sounds good," replied Kyle. "We'll be needing energy for phase two."

"Strippers, right?" the same one who asked before. "We gotta get strippers."

While the guys discussed the matter, Luke just shook his head at the floor.

"Look, guys, I gotta go in the back for a couple seconds, " he pointed back over his shoulder. "Don't drink anymore. Don't play Jets. Don't jump on the furniture. Just sit still, okay?"

"And, do what?"

Luke rolled his head away. "I don't know." He quickly searched around his head for ideas. One popped up, thankfully. "Make up a dirty version of the fight song or something." Apparently, that idea was a big hit.

However, just as Luke was about to head in the back, they all heard Dean suddenly say Rory's name as it seemed like he was dozing off. One guy asked, "what did he say?"

"Uhhh, he is so toasted," another stated.

"Rory," he repeated.

It had Luke's full attention, quickly realizing he needed to get the guy alone before Dean said anymore and spun into action, convincing the rest they should leave, pointing out how they were going to beat laser tag, drunk?

With the others guys taken care of, Luke managed to lift the moose of the guy up onto his shoulders and half carry him upstairs to his apartment. He hoped Shelby would be in the shower by now and could get Dean asleep by the time she was finished.

Once inside the apartment, Dean started talking more about Rory as Luke led him over to Jess' old bunk, now wishing he had gotten a longer bunk bed. After he had helped remove the guy's shoes, his feet had to be folded in a little.

As Dean laid there, clutching the pillow underneath his head, Luke heard him, mumble, "I miss her. Why didn't she love me?"

Luke let out a sigh underneath his breath as he held his hands on his sides. The sound of the shower running was basically music to his ears.

How did Luke always seemed to find himself in these kind of situations?

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **In response to a guest review from last chapter, please see the author's note from chapter 16 as I had already answered that question.**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The shower was eventually turned off and after another minute or so, Shelby emerged, clean and dressed in pajamas.

"Hey, Dad, I need more…" Luke suddenly cut her off, quietly but aggressively shushing her, heading over to her. "Wha'?"

Luke twisted around to look around the wall divider, making sure Dean was still asleep. Turning back, he told her, "Dean's gonna be staying here, tonight."

"How come?"

"Because he's not feeling well and it's better if he stayed here, that's all. But, maybe you should take the couch or bunk with me," he suggested.

Shelby was leaning to the side, trying to see around him. "Is Dean 'leeping in my bed?"

"No, I had him take Jess' bed. I just think it would be better if we gave him some space." Mostly, Luke didn't want Shelby overhear if Dean started talking in his sleep and bring up questions Luke wouldn't know how to answer. Though, she could probably still hear him from there and but this way, it decreased the chances since whispers and soft talking seemed to go unheard from either side.

An eyebrow rose in confusion.

"Just go with me on this, okay?"

"I am," she assured him. "Can I 'tay up a li'tle bi' longer? I wan' to play my new game."

"That's fine, I have to head back downstairs and finish cleaning. Just keep the sound, low."

"Okay." Shelby then headed over to unplug the GameCube from the TV and plug in the Nintendo 64.

"Wait, you didn't get a new game for your GameCube?" he questioned in surprise.

"Nope," she shook her head, now unwrapping the N64 controller to plug it into the console. "I guess I missed a _Pokemon_ game. I's like my 'tadium game bu' it has the Pokemon from _Gold_ and _Silver_. The game is even gold and silver, see?" Shelby held up the cartridge out to him.

Luke took the cartridge, looking it over. The front around the label was indeed gold while the back around the copyright label was silver. It even sparkled like it was covered in glitter or something.

"Wow, that's cool," he said, handing it back to her. Luke made sure to turn the sound on the TV down before Shelby could turn the console on once she stuck the cartridge inside. The intro started to play, showing different Pokemon characters.

"The black rabbit looks cool," Luke tried to point out when he saw an all black creature with yellow, glowing stripes on its long ears and long bushy tail and matching circles on its forehead and legs.

"Dad, Umbreon isn' a rabbi. I's a fox," the kid corrected him.

"Oh, well, sor-riee," he replied, sarcastically but in a playful, teasing way. At least it got a kick out of her.

Letting Shelby play her new game, well, new to her anyway as she brought it used, hence why she was able to buy it since she hadn't left with a whole lot of money on her, Luke headed back downstairs to finish cleaning the diner and made sure to lock up. He figured Dean would be out for the remainder of the night so Luke didn't worry too much. But, he still wanted to play it safe and keep Shelby over on his side, which she ended up climbing into bed with him. Even at eight years old, the kid still did not mind sharing a bed with her dad. Luke felt like the luckiest dad in the world, knowing his daughter wasn't embarrassed by him yet.

The next morning, Luke got up at his usual time and got the diner ready for the day. Usually, it wasn't that busy until after the church let out so after he opened, he had some dow time to whip up a next-morning hangover concoction he knew of.

Shelby came downstairs around eight, dressed in one of her white, button-up shirts and black slacks, minus her hat for a change. She leaned the guitar she was carrying against the end of the counter.

"Morning, kiddo," he greeted cheerfully as she made her way around the counter. "You look nice."

Shelby climbed onto the stool on the end, across from him. It was apparent she was still waking up. Letting out a small yawn, she asked, "Wha's the cu'off age to try coffee?"

Luke gave her a stern look which the kid managed to grin at him. "I'm gonna pretend like you didn't just ask me, that."

"Jus' though' I'd ask," she shrugged.

"Keep it up and I'll ban you from Lorelai's house," he threatened.

"Dad, you been saying that, forever," Shelby reminded him.

"Well, one of these days, I might follow through on that threat."

Shelby just rolled her eyes.

Luke reached over to kiss the front of her head. "You want me to make you anything?"

"No, thank you. I had a bowl of cereal when I go' up," she declined politely. "Can I have a muffin, though?"

"Sure, what kind?" Luke moved over and removed the glass lid from over the stack of muffins he had baked that morning.

"Uh, is there peach?"

"You bet." Using the tongs, he set a peach muffin on a plate and warmed it up in the toaster oven, first before setting it in front of her, who thanked him. "You're welcome." As she ate her muffin, he went back to chopping up the ingredients for his concoction.

While they were sitting there, suddenly Lorelai burst through the door, out of breath, like she just ran a mile or something.

"Give him, his ice cream truck."

Luke and Shelby exchanged a quick glance. "What?" he asked, confused.

"I forged a stream," she kicked her leg up in the air, "and I almost got attacked by a beaver and I'm not leaving here until you agree."

He was still confused. "To what?"

Lorelai panted heavily, trying to catch her breath. "You don't own the street. You own the building. It's a public street. Just let him park his stupid truck." She pointed a hand towards the window while he was scraping everything into the blender.

"I'm missing something here."

"Don't try and change the subject," she told him, firmly.

"I don't even know what the subject is," he argued.

"If you let Taylor park his stupid, ringy-dingy ice cream truck, not even in front of the diner, but in part of the diner, then I can start work on the inn."

Luke placed the lid on and set the blender onto its stand and turned it on.

"But if you don't say yes then you may not have to see his truck parked outside, but you will have to see my body swinging from that tree because I will hang myself." Lorelai stumbled over, dropping her hands on the edge of the counter. "I am waiting for your answer."

Luke just plainly shrugged. "Sure." He then turned around to turn the blender off when it was blended enough.

Lorelai slowly rose her head after panting some more. "Sure, what?"

Holding a hand out towards where she had been pointing before, he stated, "He can park it there. What do I care?"

"Don't kid around here," she told him.

"Your life's at stake. I wouldn't kid around."

She shrugged her hands out. "That easy?"

"That easy," he replied.

"Why'd ya say no before?"

"When?" he asked.

"When Taylor asked you before?"

"He never asked me before," Luke told her.

She stared at him. "He never asked?"

"Not about a truck, about a giant ice cream cone, a few months back when Shelby was still in Florida. I said no to that. Probably why he thought I'd say no to the truck."

Lorelai pulled a napkin out from the dispenser and started dabbing her face with it. "He never asked?"

He shook his head. "Nope."

"But, you're fine with this, and he could have asked?"

"It's a public street," he pointed out once more.

"And you would have said yes?"

"I'd would have said yes," he repeated.

"And I wouldn't have had to go through all this?"

"Probably not." Luke finished cleaning up everything and moved the cutting board and knife to the back counter.

Lorelai had slowly started backing up. "You know what?" she asked, dabbing at her chin with the same napkin. "I've learned something very valuable here, today." She continued to back up towards the door just as it opened and two customers walked in, and told them to come on in and sit down. "Very valuable."

Luke had grabbed a rag to wipe his hands off, on. "Good," he told her.

"I've had a business epiphany," she continued. "It's like I'm Bud Fox, saying, thanks for the lesson, Mr. Gekko."

"This will pass, folks," Luke assured the customers who had walked in.

"The Lorelai you knew is dead. Remember her?"

Shelby finally spoke up at that, sounding worried. "What?"

"Don't worry about it, kiddo," he also assured her.

"Eager to please, fresh of face?" Lorelai continued her rant. "She thought that success in business meant working hard, applying yourself, and respecting your co-workers. And she preached that to others. Oh, little child!"

Luke and Shelby exchanged a strange look with each other.

"Well, you should probably get some rest," Luke suggested, concerned.

"It's about scratching backs, my friend, and kissing things. I won't be graphic."

"It is Sunday morning," he reminded her, leaning forward. "Not to mention, a child _is_ present."

"It's dirty," she shook her head, slowly. "That's what business is. It's smoke-filled back rooms with exposed pipes and shady players chewing on fat cigars and twirling their dirty mustaches." Lorelai squeezed her fingers together. "And you go into those rooms, you can't be a milquetoast muppet. You have to have pointy teeth and jaws that snap." She pointed her fingers towards him, aggressively. "The meek shall not inherit the earth!"

Luke had folded his arms during her rant, tight across his chest. "Thanks for the perspective, and scaring my kid, by the way."

"Hey, I probably just saved her the trouble of having to learn this on her own, someday, you know? You have any coffee?

Luke suddenly unhooked his arms at that. "I'm not giving you any coffee," he stated like she was out of her mind. Well, technically, she might've been out of her mind, but Luke certainly wasn't going to be responsible for adding to it.

Lorelai suddenly threw her hand in his face. "I don't have time for coffee. I got to go find Taylor and close this deal." She snapped her fingers. "You think he's back at the store?"

"Or, having his dirty mustache cleaned," he said, sarcastically, leaning his hands on the edge of the counter, outstretched.

"You good with the truck?" she asked one final time.

Luke shrugged. "I'm good with the truck."

"Bless you." With that said, Lorelai left.

Luke just smiled at the counter, shaking his head before letting the two customers know he would be right with them.

"Lor-lai scares me, sometimes," Shelby admitted.

"Me too, kiddo. Don't worry."

Now finished with her muffin, Shelby slid down from her stool. "Hey, Dad."

"Yeah?"

"Lindsay told me on Friday, she wan's me to come early to help prepare when I go on so I'll probably 'tay after church is over," she told him.

His eyebrows rose, almost completely forgetting Shelby was singing at the wedding. "Oh, okay. Sure, no problem."

"I'll see you at noon," she waved as she started to leave.

"Uh, hey. I know you've been practicing all week and I encouraged you to do this, but, uh, you sure you want to?" he asked, halting her.

Shelby turned back to face him. "Yeah, I think so. I mean, they already paid me."

"Oh, they did?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

"Oh, uh, nothing. It's nothing," he assured her. "You should do it."

Shelby just stared at her dad, puzzled. "Um, okay?"

"You know, I know I said I would be there to support you, but technically it is Dean and Lindsay's big day, and you were right, Shell. I'll probably be bored. Would you forgive me if I didn't go?" Luke hated feeling like he should back out, but after what happened last night. He just wasn't sure. He wasn't even sure if Shelby should still do it. Though, she did make a promise and should follow through. Plus, if she was already paid, it probably wouldn't seem right to back out now.

"Of course, Dad. I said you didn' have to go," she reminded him.

"You sure?"

Shelby nodded. "Don' worry, Dad."

Luke smiled. "I'll make it up to you, how about that?"

"Okay." She returned the smile. Leaning against the counter, Shelby reached over to give her dad, a kiss, good-bye which he returned, as well before heading for the church.

Luke still felt badly, though, as he watched her, go.

Pouring the concoction he just made into a cup, Luke took it upstairs where he found Dean, awake and just finished tying his shoe.

"So, you're up," he said, coming over.

Dean snickered, dropping his foot on the floor, gently. "Yeah. I'm up," he shrugged. "Took me a minute or two to figure out where I am, but uh…" He looked towards the kitchen window.

"No, that's right. You never been here before." Luke offered him the drink.

Dean took it. "Yeah, it's not that I remember. I just kind of looked out the window, and that's how I could tell."

Luke turned part way around, holding his hands on his sides, "Good. Smart." Heading for the fridge, he pointed a hand at him. "Little concoction of mine. It'll help with the hangover." He grabbed the orange juice and a glass from atop the fridge, setting the glass on the table.

"Plus, the wall decor up there was a dead giveaway Shelby slept there." He forced a chuckle.

Luke forced a chuckle in return, agreeing.

"Guess I had a beer or two too many, last night, huh?" Dean stood up and came over.

"Yeah, it happens," he assured, pouring the juice into the glass. Oh, boy, did Luke know that, having had a few beers too many, recently, himself.

"Hope the guys didn't bug you too much," Dean apologized.

"Oh no, they were fine."

"Good."

Taking in a deep breath, Luke continued to make small talk. "So, you're all dressed there?"

Dean looked down at himself. "Yeah, you know, getting married."

Luke smiled. "Getting married," he said before taking a drink.

"Uh…" Dean stuttered on his words, awkwardly. "I'm due in the church in about an hour," he managed to say while staring downward.

Luke set his glass down on the table again and leaned his hands on both chairs near him. "Hey, uh, Dean," he tried to say something.

"And I still have to pick up my tux," Dean continued, cutting him off.

He stared at him. "Yeah, right."

Dean stuttered some more on his words, but managed to say, "Thanks for everything, Luke. "

"Yeah, sure."

"And, we really appreciate Shelby singing. It probably would have been better to hire a professional but Lindsay, you know. She thought it would be awesome since normally kids are usually ring bearers and flower girls. Since my nephew's the ring bearer and her little cousin's the flower girl, why not, right?"

"Right," he agreed. "Good luck."

Dean nodded before leaving.

Luke just watched him, unable to say more. Hopefully, things do work out for him and Lindsay. Though, he wasn't fully confident.

Hoping Lorelai was still at Doose's, Luke headed next door once he had time to slip away. He looked up and down the aisles but saw no sign of her. When he stepped out of the store, though, Luke ended up bumping into Rory instead, just as Lane was leaving. He decided to ask her if she seen her mom. Turns out, she was out looking for a wedding present.

"Does she have her cell on her?" he asked.

"I think it's dead," she replied. "What's going on?"

"Or a pager or something?"

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing. I just need to check something with her." Luke awkwardly stretched backwards, sliding his hands into his back pockets.

"Well, we can stop by after the wedding…"

"Don't go to the wedding," he suddenly blurted out.

"What?"

"Uh, don't go to Dean's wedding." Luke forced out a nervous chuckle.

The young woman stared at him. "Why?"

"I...just…" He shuffled around on his feet. "Don't go. Trust me." Luke waved a hand towards her.

Rory looked away at the ground. "Okay," she said, taking a breath in.

"It'd just be better this way," he told her.

She breathed out, nodding her head. "Okay."

Placing a hand on her shoulder, Luke asked her, making sure, "So, you're not going?"

"I guess not," she shrugged one shoulder.

"Okay, good," he nodded, taking a breath himself. "Good. I'll see you guys later."

"Yeah, Luke, I'll see you later."

Luke gave another nervous chuckle. "Okay," he said, before heading back to the diner.

He tried not to think about it as Luke took and cooked orders. It didn't help that the diner was basically dead most of the time and had very little to do. He would have loved to have been there for his little buddy, especially after he told her, he would be. Just...the whole situation was awkward and he wasn't even sure what to do or say.

At one point, Luke happened to look out the window to see everyone pouring out of the church with Dean and Lindsay in the lead. It looked like the ceremony part was over and the reception was starting. He looked away to head back to the counter now that the tables were wiped down.

The next time he looked out the window was when he heard someone talking over a loudspeaker, talking. A few people gave speeches, assuming they were the best man and maid of honor.

Luke tried to pick out where Shelby was sitting. The kid must have been feeling awkward having to be there by herself. How could he have let that happen? Sure, there would be times without him. She was still a kid! Not only that, but he had to tell Rory not to go, so Shelby didn't even have her or Lorelai to sit with. Hopefully, there was a designated kid's table or something so she could at least sit with somebody her age.

Well, sometimes, one just has to take the awkwardness and let things happen, he guessed. The kid was tough, she would survive. Shelby was on her own when she was little and made it. Barely but made it.

After a moment of searching, he noticed Shelby walk up with the guitar, to the person holding the microphone. The person placed it onto its stand and adjusted it to her height. So, she hadn't sang yet?

The next thing he knew, Luke was racing out front and stood at the edge of the sidewalk just as Shelby was looking out at everyone sitting there, holding the guitar.

"Come on, kiddo. You got this," he said under his breath, holding his hands on his sides.

It took a moment but Luke heard the strumming of the guitar as Shelby began to play, and soon, he heard her sing.

As she sang the song Shelby had chosen, Luke felt himself smile with proudness. She was doing it. Her first real performance. He knew she could and would remember this for the rest of her life. Luke knew he surely would. The song even had a short instrumental part Shelby left in, but as a guitar solo.

Like she does whenever Shelby played for the town, she sang with heart and feeling. Her singing could melt rocks if it was possible.

Just as Shelby was finishing the song, Luke happened to catch someone out of the corner of his eye. He looked over to see Rory leaning against a tree, also watching from a distance. His shoulders dropped as he watched her standing there. It broke his heart seeing her, no doubt broken up over this. That was her first boyfriend and because of him, the second one was gone. It probably didn't help that Jess was only keeping in touch with Shelby, either.

People clapping got his attention. Luke looked over to see Shelby timidly take a bow as the same person came back up to the microphone. Soon after, Shelby headed over to a table, Luke assumed was a kid's table because he could make out little people her size or smaller.

On one hand, Luke was proud of his little buddy. On the other hand, guilt snuck in and tried to overcome it as he glanced back at Rory, who then started heading in the direction of her house.

Luke took in a breath and let it out. It's surely been one of _those_ weeks, and he still had Tuesday's session to deal with.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The night before the session, Luke gave Shelby, a head's up he would be "filing a complaint", over dinner, about Rachel's hostility towards her cousin.

"We're gonna do all we can to show your mom, Jess was, _is_ , a good guy," he reassured her. He then let out a sigh. Or, at least help her to keep it to herself.

Shelby stirred her fork around the homemade macaroni and cheese her dad had made that evening. Making her mom understand was their biggest hope, especially for Shelby.

He reached over and comfortingly rubbed her shoulder. "That's all we can do, kiddo," reminding her of giving an effort and hoping for the best.

She continued to watch her food. "Dad."

Luke had taken his hand back, folding it in and scooped up a bite, making sure to scoop up bites of asparagus. "Yeah?"

"I wish he was 'till here," she admitted.

"I know, kiddo. I wish he was still here, too." Luke stirred his own macaroni, mixing in more asparagus. As he did, he told her, "sometimes, you have to let the ones you love, go, to find their own way and hope they find it on their own. It's never easy and it doesn't mean you don't care, but a lot of the time, it's necessary, especially if they don't want to take the terms you give them."

"He says there's a girl there tha' reminded him of me because she hides too, bu' in a more creepy way than when I do it."

He gave a strange look, glancing between her and his plate, stirring his food again. "Like in a horror movie type of creepy?"

She shrugged. "He jus' said, she likes to hide in places and read all the time."

"Alright, then." Luke took another bite before reaching for his glass of milk. The conversation was changed to how school was as the two finished eating. Not that it helped perk the kid up. Usually, whenever Jess was brought up, it took awhile for her to recover.

Luke picked Shelby up from school at the usual time and headed for Providence where they met Rachel, who was already waiting like she has been. She made small talk with Shelby, asking how school was. Afterwards, she asked how the wedding went on Sunday.

"It wen' good," Shelby answered.

"Yeah?" Rachel asked with a smile.

She nodded.

Rachel tried to say, hey, to Luke when he came over to sit beside Shelby.

He gave a quick, "Hey," right back but that was the extent of it. Instead, he just reached for a magazine, not really paying attention to what kind it was and started looking through it. He soon realized it was a _Highlights for Children_ magazine when the pages had "Where's Waldo" pictures and other activities centered towards children.

Not wanting to swallow his pride and switch to an adult-center magazine, Luke kept reading as if he meant to pick it up.

Rachel must have noticed because she asked, "Finding anything interesting in there?"

Luke made a slight grunting noise as if he was clearing his throat in response as he continued looking through the pages. Though, he was ashamed to admit, one puzzle actually sucked him in and Luke was finding himself trying to locate a dog that seemed impossible to spot in the crowd of people and animals. Even when Lauren walked the last family out and welcome them, Luke did not want to stop until he found this darn dog, asking for one more second.

Lauren tried pointing out there was an answer key in the back of the magazine but Luke was bound and determined to find it.

Shelby leaned her knee on the chair beside him to look over his shoulder and tried to help him. It was Rachel who looked over him from behind and spotted the missing dog, pointing it out with her finger. Luke wasn't too thrilled she had been able to find it before he could and so much easier and quicker. Tossing the magazine onto the table, Luke stood up and followed the girls back into Lauren's office where they took their seats.

Lauren asked how everyone's last two weeks have been, letting Shelby talk about how little league has been so far. She got a few words from the kid. It was still enough to get a general idea of how well Shelby was doing.

"Wow, I remember hearing from Madison, you were basically a tree in t-ball," she teased, harmlessly.

"Dad taugh' me everything I know." Shelby smiled over at him.

"I didn't have to teach you much. You had it in you all along, you just needed a push," he told her, modestly. Actually, it wasn't even being modest. Shelby did have some of it in her, she just needed someone to help her practice and give her the confidence she desperately needed.

"Maybe one of these days I can swing by a game and see you in action," Lauren winked at her.

Shelby shrugged. "Sure."

"Maybe. We'll see. Technically, we're not allowed to cross a boundary like that so it would probably have to be when we're no longer meeting anymore."

Shelby nodded. "Okay."

Lauren looked around at all three. "Anything else?"

Before Luke could speak up, Shelby actually raised her hand, timidly. It surprised him she wanted to say more.

"Yes, Shelby?"

"I also go' to sing a' a friend's wedding, las' weekend."

It was an even bigger surprise to Luke, Shelby willingly shared more. Usually, she didn't bring something like that up unless someone else did for her.

"You did?" Lauren looked surprised, as well but was happy to hear it.

Shelby nodded.

"What did you sing?"

"Um?" Shelby briefly had to think about it, but only for a second. "Shania Twain's song, _From This Moment On_."

"Oh, I think I may know that song," she nodded in interest. "Were you nervous?"

Shelby nodded at that. "I was really 'cared bu' I jus' though' abou' wha' Dad and Jess told me and did it."

"And what did your dad and Jess say?"

"Tha' I can do it," she answered. "Dad said, if I think I'm ready, I should go for it and Jess though' I was because I sang plenty of times a' the town meetings so I didn' have an excuse no' to."

"Well," Lauren looked out the corner of her eye for a brief moment, "being used to one group of people doesn't necessarily mean you'll be fine with another. But, I see what he was getting at. You practiced in front of one group already so it was time to push yourself even further and try to sing for another group."

Shelby gave a small shrug. "I also gave tha' repor' in fron' of my class and pre'ty soon will have to do it again for my firs' book repor'. So, it was good prac-tice."

"That's right," Lauren agreed. "Well, congratulations, Shelby. I am so proud of all you've been able to accomplish, so far."

Luke couldn't help notice the kid glow brighter as she smiled at the compliment. "Because she's got people backing her up like me and her cousin," he caught himself say out loud. "Who aren't bad influences in the slightest."

"Uh, yeah, I guess," Lauren agreed, caught off guard by the way Luke had worded that.

He noticed Rachel drop her face, holding it against her hand.

"Something wrong, Rachel?" Lauren asked her with heartfelt concern.

She picked her head back up. "Uh, it's nothing, really," Rachel shook her head, once.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just, I know what's Luke implying, that's all," she said and looked over at Luke. "Right, Luke?"

Luke folded his arms in front of his chest and shrugged, causally. "I don't know what you're talking about, Rachel? I was just saying how her cousin and I have her back and look out for her best interest."

Rachel let out a sigh. "Yes, Luke, I can see that, but you were also trying to throw it back at me," she shot at him, irritably.

Lauren stepped in. "We're all here for Shelby's best interest. I know you mean well for your daughter." She clearly was missing the point Luke and Rachel were trying to make, probably thinking Luke didn't think Rachel cared.

"I do," she agreed. "That's why I don't think her cousin was a very good influence that should be around her."

"Ohhh," she said and nodded once. It seemed like Lauren had caught on to it, now. "That whole issue."

"Yes, the issue Rachel can't seem to grasp her head around that she knows nothing about," Luke defensively stated, shooting a look over at her.

"I can grasp it just fine, Luke," she argued and turned back to Lauren to list off on her fingers, "his sister sent his nephew to stay with him because he was getting into serious trouble, didn't care about anyone, was rude to everyone, played pranks, got into fights. Not only that but taught Shelby how to fight which got her suspended for two days from school when she got into a fight with a kid who had been bullying her and her friends."

Luke scoffed, turning his head to look away. That's when he noticed Shelby sitting there, staring at the table, quiet again.

"I will give him the benefit there hasn't been another fight since then but it shouldn't have happened in the first place when there are better, non hurtful ways of putting an end to a bully."

Lauren nodded in agreement. "Yes, that is very true. Violence is never the answer to stop a bully. I do know Shelby has dealt with other mean kids in the past."

"I will also say, there was a brief period when Shelby told me to give him a chance, and I've tried and everything seemed fine. I was surprised a teenager his age would willingly spend time with a little kid. My oldest brother loathed whenever he had to watch my brother and I when we were little, so I was very impressed with Luke's nephew. But, it didn't keep me from worrying, and when he got into that car accident with Lorelai's daughter," Rachel shrugged. "It just proved my point. He couldn't even own up to it. He just took off in the middle of the night and let everyone else pick up the pieces. Would you let a guy like that around your daughter?"

It was that moment, Luke noticed tears were appearing in Shelby's eyes as she continued to stare at the table.

"Were they drinking?" Lauren asked.

"No," Luke suddenly blurted out first. Taking a deep breath, he then explained, "Jess wasn't doing well in school so I asked Lorelai's daughter to help tutor him, get him through a few tests, despite the fact he was smarter than everyone thinks he is. Apparently, they went out for ice cream while I was dropping Shelby off at Rachel's, and a small animal had run out in front of them, causing Jess to swerve to avoid hitting it and ended up hitting a bench instead. Rory ended up fracturing her arm on the dash which healed after a few weeks," he glanced over at Rachel, who just looked back, listening.

"Rory is Lorelai's daughter?" Lauren noted.

He nodded. "Yes, and Jess made sure she was okay before taking off," Luke pointed his finger aggressively on the table. "It was just a car accident that could have happened to anyone. No one was at fault."

"But, why take off?" Rachel shrugged. "If nobody was at fault, then why couldn't he have just stayed there. Why just pack up and go home in the middle of the night without even a good-bye to his cousin, who was upset over him leaving?"

Luke just glared at her.

"I'm sorry, Luke, but I cannot give your nephew one shred of redemption. I mean," she shrugged some more, "he couldn't even graduate high school, for Pete's sake."

That caught him off guard. "How do you know about that?" he demanded.

"It was pretty obvious at lunch when you couldn't even answer my nephew, straight, Luke." Rachel held her arms loosely folded in front of her, leaning back in her seat, still.

Luke looked away at that. Noticing his little buddy again, he reached over to give her arm, a loving squeeze.

"If I may," Lauren jumped in again. "Hearing all this and after listening to the bits and pieces Shelby has shared with me, I feel we are speaking about two completely different people, here."

"Look, I love you, peanut, with all my heart," Rachel told her, touching her hand to her chest, "but she's a kid, she doesn't understand the seriousness of the trouble Jess has caused and can cause. He may act nice around her but he's not the kind of person she should be around. I'd rather her be around my father than him and my father has lost that privilege."

That hit a nerve with Luke as he quickly looked up at Rachel. Even Shelby perked up upon hearing that. "So, what you're saying is, my nephew is worse than your father?" His voice rose into an almost yelling tone.

"I'd feel safer leaving Shelby with my father than I would your nephew, yes," she said with a nod. "I hate myself for saying it, but that's the way I feel."

He glanced at Shelby out of the corner of his eye to see a look of pure, heartbreaking surprised, sadness. "That's it." Luke scooted towards the edge of his seat, pushing out from the table a little. Before Lauren could say something, he told Rachel, "all you have ever done since the start is argue with me on every little thing you don't like. I told you I didn't want our daughter's heart broken and you promised you wouldn't let that happen. I gave you a chance, Rachel, but all you've done is make it harder on her."

Rachel opened her mouth to speak but Luke cut her off.

"No, I want you to listen. You…"

" _No_ ," she suddenly snapped. Rachel too pushed her chair out to face him, directly. "I'm done with being yelled at. I am putting my foot down, Luke. I understand you have full custody, that you stepped in and took her in after I failed."

"Failed?" he questioned. "You didn't even try! You gave her up the moment she was born, without telling me, need I remind you?"

"And, I told you, it is a mistake I still regret to this day," Rachel argued. "Yes, Luke, you're more willing than I was, I get it. At least I'm trying now, right? That should count for something."

"Are you?" He stared at her. "Rachel, you want to get on my nephew's case about ditching on everyone instead of fessing up, but need I also remind you too, you did the exact same thing when Shelby said she hated you, out of anger and did not even mean it?!" His voice rose even higher. "It was Jess who was there to help me pull her right back up," Luke pointed at the floor. "It was Jess who helped her get better at reading, who helped her practice her speech sounds! Who was there by her side when she broke her arm and had to have surgery! Who even helped your own nephew, by the way! So, you want to…!"

Suddenly, a loud whistle was blown in their ears, breaking up the heated argument, getting both of their attention. Both adults suddenly touched their ears, flinching from the loud, ear-piercing noise.

Lauren was holding one of those metal whistles, P.E. coaches usually used in gym class. Tucking it back into her pocket, she told Shelby she could put her hands down from off her ears, gently touch a hand to her elbow. Luke guessed Lauren had at least warned her ahead of time.

"That's enough, both of you," she directed at both him and Rachel, firmly. "I should have said this before. I am fine with fair fighting in my domain, however, that means being _fair_. No placing blame, no name-calling, no swearing, and no raising one's voice. Do I make myself clear?"

Rachel nodded first. "Yes," she agreed, calmly.

Luke sunk back into his chair.

"Luke?" Lauren stared right at him, sternly. It felt like he was being reprimanded by a teacher.

"Yeah, sorry," he apologized, sincerely.

"Now," Lauren calmly directed towards all three, "I understand you both want what's best for Shelby, I can see that. I understand there's been quite a few differences that are conflicting with the two of you working together as a team. Unfortunately, since neither of you want to meet with me, one on one, I can only do so much. You do want help, right? Because I don't want to waste anybody's time and money."

Luke stared at the floor, listening. He heard Rachel reassure Lauren wasn't wasting their time or money.

"Luke?" he heard Lauren speak to him again.

He shook his head. "There's no waste," he also reassured her.

"Then, can we put aside the differences, here, and work with me? Please?" she asked of them, switching back and forth. "Now, I understand your nephew, Luke, is not your favorite, Rachel."

"No, not really," she said.

"Again, I'm not getting the same person from listening to all three of you, but Rachel, I've worked with several teens over the years who have gone through recklessness and rebellion. Some teens go through a rebellious period, but that doesn't mean they can't be trusted around young children. It's usually because they were misunderstood or were going through a rough time."

"I might've considered that if it weren't for the fact there was an accident," Rachel shrugged. "What if it had been Shelby in the car?" She pointed a hand towards Shelby.

Lauren shrugged. "A car accident can happen to anyone. Shelby could just as easily get into an accident with Luke driving, or even you. Luke says an animal had jumped out in front and Jess tried to swerve so he wouldn't hit it which is the most logical thing to do in a situation like that. The girl was lucky to get out with just a fracture."

Rachel took in a deep breath and let it out. "Yeah, that makes sense."

Turning back to Luke, Lauren told him, "I would really like to have your nephew come in for a session, Luke."

"I only have a haunch as to where Jess is and he's not even speaking to me, except to ask for Shelby, whenever he calls. I don't think that'll ever happen," he shrugged.

She shrugged as well, holding her palms together while leaning on the table. "You never know. Anything is possible." Lauren looked over at Shelby. "You think you could ask, Shelby?"

Shelby was staring at the table. After a moment, she shook her head.

"Why not? You never know unless you ask, right?"

Her lower lip was sucked in.

"Just ask. It's okay if he says no, but as long as you did your part, that's all that matters. No one can force him to do anything, but it could help make things a little bit better between him and your mom."

But, Shelby shook her head once more.

"No, what? You don't think it can help make things better?"

Shelby chewed on her lip as if she was hesitating. After Lauren continued to talk to her, encouraging her to talk, Shelby finally said, "Jess is in California."

"Oh, Jess is in California," she nodded. Lauren ended up sharing a sympathetic look with Luke. He didn't get it at first but remembered Bayley had also went to California, so that's probably what she was looking at him, for. "Yeah, that would make things hard for him to come to a session."

She leaned on her folded arms. "Maybe we can accommodate that for him, by having Jess on speakerphone. Does he have a phone we can call him on?"

Shelby shook her head, still not looking up.

"No? Then, how does he call you?"

Shelby moistened her lips where she had been chewing on it. After a minute, she finally answered, "pay phone."

Lauren nodded. "Okay, well, whenever Jess gets access to a phone other than a pay phone, we can call him and have him join in for a session. How's that? That sound like a plan?"

She just shrugged one shoulder.

Lauren looked over at Luke and Rachel. "What about you? That sound like a plan, have Jess on speaker phone and we can work things out between you?"

"I doubt he would, honestly but, yeah, sure," said Rachel.

Luke hated the fact Rachel just assumed Jess would refuge despite the fact she was probably right. There was no way Jess would willingly join a session, especially since him and Luke had a bad falling out. The guy won't even speak to him more than he has to. There was no way Jess would agree to participate.

With a half an hour left, Lauren suggested a fun activity for them to do as a family. She asked Luke to help her move the table over against the wall and out of the way. She then tore off three sheets of large butcher paper from a roll she had in a far corner, having Shelby lay them on the floor.

Lauren explained she wanted each of them to lay down and let the other two trace around their entire body, suggesting Luke go first.

Feeling ridiculous, Luke laid down on the paper, flat on his back, in a position where both Shelby and Rachel could trace around his body with Crayola markers Lauren had given them to use. Each taking a side, the girls traced around him, meeting at his head. When they finished, Luke was able to get up.

"Now, I want all of you, including you, Luke," Lauren nodded at him, "to write positive words about you. Anything that describes Dad to a T, that is nice. Nothing negative or hurtful. It can even be a strength he has."

Shelby shyly raised her hand.

"Yes, Shelby?" she asked.

"Wha's a 'trength?"

"A strength is something you're good at, like a certain skill you can do or even something like being a good listener," Lauren explained where Shelby could understand. "Okay?"

Shelby nodded.

"So, I have to write things about myself?" Luke questioned.

Lauren smiled. "Yep," she nodded.

"Isn't that kind of conceded?"

"Nothing wrong with having pride in who you are if you're also humble."

"Do I have to?"

"Luke?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do I need to bring out Sally?" she threatened in a somehow nonthreatening way that still made him comply, thanking him when he joined the girls on the floor.

So, each with a different marker, the three of them wrote positive words about Luke inside his outline. Though, Luke was the one who struggled the most with coming up with words while Shelby was shooting out words like crazy. She also made sure to draw in his hat with a blue marker and his stubble on his face, along with the rest of his facial features. Lauren told her, she didn't need to as they were just writing words, but Shelby wanted to.

Lauren gave them about five minutes before asking what everyone had written, letting Shelby go first, having her say them with "Dad is…"

"Dad is funny, a grea' cook, 'trong, kind, caring, a good fisherman, great baseball player, a teddy bear, very giving, and my bes' friend and my hero," she listed off before looking up at Lauren. They were now all sitting around the paper which Shelby was sitting on one leg with her other knee pointed upward. She caught a look with him as Luke couldn't help perk up at his little buddy's choice of words and smiled at him.

Lauren was sitting back on her heels at the top of the paper. "Those are good, Shelby," she praised and switched over to Rachel, who was on her left. "Rachel?"

"Well, I put, Luke can be…"

Lauren stopped her there, reminding her how she was supposed to say it.

Correcting herself, she said, "Luke is charming, humorous, sweet, and kind."

"Alright, good," Lauren nodded and turned to Luke. "So, Luke, what did you put about yourself?" She informed him, he could use "I am" instead of his name.

"Uh," Luke rubbed at the back of his neck. "I think I am…"

Lauren stopped him, as well. "No thinking," she scolded him and had him start with, "I am…"

Taking a deep breath, he finished, " I am a good cook. I am a decent repairman. Uh, that's about all I got," he admitted.

"That's fine," she assured him. "It can be hard coming up with words for ourselves." Lauren moved on, having Rachel do the same and lay on the second piece of butcher paper while Luke and Shelby traced around her body as they done for Luke. Afterwards, she had them write positive words that described Rachel, including about herself.

Luke had a little less trouble, though it didn't help he was still upset with her. He still managed to get a few words written. However, he noticed Shelby was having even more trouble than he was having. In fact, he couldn't see any words written in the color she was using and her marker just suspended in mid-air, a few inches above her side of the outline.

When Lauren called, time's up, Luke offered to go first, hoping that might spark an idea for the kid. Though, he had to forced himself to sound positive about Rachel. "Rachel is adventurous, free-spirited. Uh, she's also humorous, as well."

"Great, Luke, I'm proud of you," Lauren praised him, who just nodded in response. "Shelby?"

Shelby didn't answer. She stared at the paper for a moment before burying her face into her right arm, on top of her upturned knee.

Luke reached over and rubbed a comforting hand along her back.

"Would you like me to read what you wrote, Shelby?" Lauren offered.

Rachel was staring down at Shelby's side of her outline. "You couldn't think of one positive word about me, peanut?" she asked. The tone was gentle and with sincere concern at least.

"One is enough," Lauren also encouraged the kid.

Luke saw her head shake from side to side. He looked up to see real hurt in Rachel's eyes.

"But, we've been doing so good the past few weekends, peanut? You can't think of anything from that? Stuff we did?"

"Come on, Shelby. Just one positive thing about your mom," Lauren encouraged firmly, now. "It can be about anything. There has to be something you like about her."

By this point, Luke could feel Shelby starting to tense up and close in. "Can we just move on?" he suggested. "Shelby's getting really anxious."

"Luke's right, we can't force her to choose a word," Rachel reluctantly agreed.

"That's fine, but that means Shelby has homework for the next two weeks until we meet again." Lauren turned back to Shelby. "Shelby, can you do that for me? Think of a positive word for your mom for our next session?"

Luke continued rubbing his hand along her back, in a soothing, comforting motion. It took a few minutes but they at least got a one-shoulder shrug.

Lauren tried moving on, letting them know, they had a little bit of time left to have Shelby take her turn on the third and last sheet of butcher paper.

It was Luke who managed to get the kid calm again and encourage her to let him and her mom trace her outline. The whole time, Shelby couldn't meet her mom's gaze while they traced around her.

Just as they did for Luke and Rachel, they also had to write positive words about Shelby inside her outline, including her.

This time, a lot more words came to mind for him as he wrote them out. When Lauren gave the call, he noticed Shelby had managed to write a few words about herself.

Lauren let Rachel go first. "I put, Shelby is sweet, very generous, kind, compassionate, athletic, humorous, adventurous, fun-loving, and a great kid," she said, directly at Shelby, with a smile.

But, Shelby just stared at the paper in front of her, digging her marker into the hard, dark grey carpet. The cap was on the tip at least.

"Great, Rachel," Lauren praised her and turned towards Luke to have him go next.

"Shelby is very generous, kind, sweet, caring, thoughtful, sympathetic, athletic, loving, a beautiful, talented singer and not to mention, beautiful, herself. Loads of fun to be around," Luke smiled towards his little buddy, "and a great team player and one of the most hardworking kids I know."

Not even her dad was able to get her to lift her head, not even to look at him. Though, he did catch a small, quick smile before she wiped her eyes on her arm.

"Shelby, you want to share what you wrote about yourself?" Lauren asked, but Luke could see her muteness had fully overtaken her at this point.

He offered to read what Shelby had written for her. Moving his head so he could see, Luke read, "Shelby is a good baseball player, a good basketball player. Shelby is friendly and nice, and is a good listener." That last one caught him by surprise. He hadn't even thought about something such as Shelby being a good listener, even though, she was pretty good at listening to him when he asked her to do something.

"Those are very good things, Shelby," Lauren praised. Looking at the time, she announced the time was up for that week's session. Of course, she did bring up the fact Luke hadn't called her at all to set up a time to meet, one on one. "I need one of you step up first and show me you're fully onboard with this."

Letting out a sigh, he stole a glance over at Rachel before finally agreeing. "Okay, fine. Late, Thursday mornings are usually the least busiest at the diner, right now."

Lauren stood up and headed over to her desk, bringing up her calendar on her computer, shaking the mouse to wake it up first. "I am booked this Thursday, but we can meet next Thursday at eleven." She looked back at him.

"Sounds good," he agreed.

"Okay," Lauren typed him into her schedule before standing straight up to face them. "I will see you, Luke, next week and all three of you, two weeks from today."

"Sounds like a plan," Rachel replied, cheerfully.

Lauren of course walked them out, making sure the woman behind the front desk knew of both appointments while Luke signed them out. Afterwards, they said their good-byes as the three of them headed out to the parking lot.

Rachel tried saying good-bye to Shelby, who still couldn't look in her direction. "I'm sorry I don't like Jess, peanut. I was just looking out for your safety."

Shelby buried her face into Luke's flannel shirt.

"I never realized how much he actually cared about you," she shrugged. "I still have my doubts but if he means that much to you, well… I'm glad he was there for you."

Luke could tell Rachel wasn't fully onboard about Jess, but at least she was making an effort. Shelby, on the other hand, still couldn't look at her.

He heard Shelby sniff in.

When no one else said anything, Luke and Rachel decided to go their separate ways to where they were parked.

Rachel let him know she would call sometime this week about this weekend since it was hers. But, Luke told her, they'll see, as they weren't sure if Shelby would be up for it.

The whole way home, Shelby sat, curled in a ball against her door with the truck in silence except for the radio.

At least they were making some progress. It wasn't much but it was something.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Shelby still hadn't returned to her lively self when she woke up the next morning or when she left for school with her friends, though Luke heard the boys trying to cheer her up as they were leaving.

With a hug and kiss, Luke made sure to give her words of encouragement to try and have somewhat of a decent day. He at least got a half smile from her, knowing she knew he was trying to cheer her up, as well.

Luke did end up receiving a call around twelve-thirty from Mrs. Sweeney, letting him know Shelby hadn't tried to participate in class that morning and seemed spacey than usual. Trying not to sound too intimidated by the stern-sounding woman, he explained a little about yesterday's therapy session, leaving out the details but gave enough that would explain Shelby's reason for not paying attention in class.

Mrs. Sweeney agreed to give Shelby a pass just this once due to the circumstances since everyone has a bad day, now and then, but if it persisted throughout the week, she would be sending Shelby to the school counselor and expected the classwork to be finished as homework and turned in the next day.

Luke agreed, thanking her, and said he would talk to her that evening, as well, before hanging up. He also got a phone call from her coach, letting him know that was practice was being cancelled due to the fields flooding from the recent rain storm they had gotten recently. Friday's practice was still pending, hoping the fields would be dry up by then.

Later, that afternoon, Shelby came home, still looking out of it, carrying her scooter over her right shoulder. She headed straight around the counter, towards their apartment.

Luke, who was standing there, stopped her by holding his arm out in front of her. "Hey, what's going on, kiddo?" He leaned over, folding his arms on the end of the counter to be at eye level. "Your teacher called me, this morning. Said you weren't participating in class. I think I even sensed a little concern in that scary tone of hers." Luke chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

Shelby searched around at the floor. "I don' know," she admitted with a slight shrug.

"Just got a lot on your mind from yesterday?" he assumed.

She gave a small nod.

Sliding his arms closer, Luke touched his forehead to hers, "Hey, it'll get better, I promise. And, at least I'll always be here for ya." Luke moved his head away and smiled for her.

Another half smile appeared as she looked up at him. "Thanks, Dad."

"No problem, kiddo." He then asked if she was hungry, which Shelby politely declined and said she was going to head upstairs and get started on her homework now so she had time to play her video games after dinner. He made sure to tell her, he'd be up later to check on her, watching her head upstairs.

It broke his heart seeing his little buddy this much upset.

An hour or so passed when Luke realized he had to call and place the order for the diner's weekly food supply. So, without much thought, he reached behind where he was standing at the counter and grabbed the phone to dial the number. That is, before he faintly heard somebody already talking.

Luke put the receiver to his ear to find it was Jess and Shelby having their weekly phone call. He was about to apologize and hang up but then soon realized the cousins were discussing the session, and quickly covered the speaker part with his hand to listen in on what they were saying.

"Who the hell cares if she doesn't like me," Jess was saying, his voice a tad louder than a normal tone. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Bu'," Shelby tried to object, pausing for a brief second before continuing in a softer tone. "It is to me."

"Listen, it's great you like everyone getting along and liking each other. That's awesome, Scout. But, unfortunately, that's not the way the world works. Not everyone is gonna like each other," he told her. "Take me, for example. No person in that town liked me at all and that's fine. Those people were too nosey and strange for my taste anyway. I don't care what they think of me, and I definitely don't care what your pain in the ass mom thinks of me, either, who, by the way, looks a little creepily like that stuck-up chick from that _Saved by the Bell_ show."

"I don' know wha' tha' is," Shelby pointed out.

"It was one of those sitcom shows I used to watch, now and then when there was nothing else on, while waiting for Liz to get home from work, when I was a kid." Jess suddenly warned, "and if you tell anyone about that, I will end you."

Though, it was supposed to sound intimidating, Luke heard Shelby giggling at the threat, making him smile to himself. So, his nephew has, or _had_ , a guilty pleasure growing up? Who knew it would be a show like that? Luke didn't know much about the show, but by the sound of it, it didn't sound like something Jess would enjoy.

"Seriously, though, don't sweat over this, Scout. Trust me. Just, tell her to shut her trap and move on because by this point, I don't think your mom's ever gonna see a whole new light of me. Not everyone will like you no matter what. There'll always be that one asshole who doesn't like you because, I don't know, you looked at them funny or you have something they want and they know they can't have it, or whatever else reason people don't like you for, and the sooner you learn that, the better off you'll be."

Silence followed.

"Scout?"

"Bu', she doesn' ge' it," Shelby tried to press the matter further. "If she did, maybe…"

"No, kid. Listen to me, people are gonna be stuck in their own opinions, and you have to learn that's their right and it's not your job to change their mind. Maybe, it's possible, but bottom line, it'll be a waste of time that could have been spent on other things."

"Okay, let's say…? Oh, perfect example. You like _Pokemon_. Say you meet this kid who likes… What else are kids watching these days?"

"Um, I 'tarted watching this show called _Dragon Ball Z_."

"I'm sorry, you what?" he asked.

"I 'tarted…" Before she continued with her sentence, Jess stopped and corrected her pronunciation of "started", making her break down the sounds until she could say the whole word, correctly, not moving on until then.

Luke listened, proudly, glad at the fact, despite being million miles apart, her cousin was still helping her with her speech sounds. In fact, the call was taking so long, he heard Jess having to drop in more change so the call could continue.

Eventually, after a few tries, Shelby managed to say, "I _sss_ -tarted... I s-tarted watching Dragon Ball Z."

"Prefect," he said. "So, say, you meet a kid who likes this _Dragon Ball Z_ cartoon but hates _Pokemon_. No matter how much you try to convince him, _Pokemon_ is way better, he more than likely will say _Dragon Ball Z_ is better. Get it?"

"Bu' tha's okay if he likes _Dragon Ball Z_ be'ter than _Pokemon_."

"So, then, if you don't care about somebody liking something better than _Pokemon_ , what difference does it make if somebody doesn't like me?" he pointed out.

"Because she's wrong abou' you," she answered.

"Who cares, though. It's the same exact thing, Scout. If somebody thinks a certain way and you know you're right and they won't see it otherwise, the best _you_ can do is let them look stupid. Let her believe what she thinks and look stupid for it. Don't let her stress you out over this, Scout. It's like I told ya about mine, moms are gonna do what they're gonna do and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Take it from me, it's a huge waste of time. Okay?"

More silence followed for a brief moment before she finally answered. "Okay."

"I'm sorry to break ya to it, Scout," Jess told her in an apologetic tone. "I just don't want you being upset over this and eventually turning into someone like your dad or me. We're grumpy guys but that doesn't mean you have to be a grumpy chick. The sooner you learn not to care what others think of you and those you care about, the better off you'll be."

"I's okay, Jess," Shelby assured him, but still didn't sound one hundred percent better.

"I gotta go, though. But, remember what I said, just forget about it and move on. Because you're not gonna change her mind. Okay?"

"Okay," she at least told him, whether Shelby agreed or not.

"Take care of yourself, kid. Love ya."

"Love you too, big brother."

"Talk to you later."

"Bye."

After Shelby said, bye, the call ended and both cousins hung up.

Luke also hung up the phone, now thinking about what Jess had said. The guy was right, though. They shouldn't be caring whether or not Rachel liked Jess or not, or if she knew the truth about him and Shelby's close sibling-like relationship. They knew and that's all that really mattered. Let her look stupid every time she said something that wasn't true. Besides, it wasn't like Rachel had any say in whether or not Shelby could have contact with him. Luke had the say, so yeah, Rachel could just shut up and they could move on from it and focus on more important stuff that needed to be dealt with.

Listening to the cousins' conversation, Luke had almost completely forgotten the reason for picking up the phone in the first place and made the call to put in the week's order.

When he headed upstairs that night to fix dinner for him and Shelby, he found Shelby finished with all of her homework and was watching TV with his guitar on her lap and Gexie lounging on her shoulder.

"Hey, you hungry?"

"Sure," she replied with a shrug.

"In the mood for anything in particular?" he asked, going to the fridge and looking inside for anything Luke could make for dinner.

"Do we have any more pork chops? Tha' sounds good."

Luke looked in the freezer, finding a few. Grabbing two, he also got out a large skillet and turned on the stove. While fixing dinner, cooking some quick veggie sides to go with the pork chops, he asked how she was feeling from earlier.

"Okay, I guess," Shelby admitted. "Jess called, so I go' to talk to him."

"Oh yeah?" Luke pretended to be surprised. "What did he say?"

Shelby just shrugged. "We talked abou' how school was and 'tuff."

Assuming the "'tuff" part was the part about her mom, Luke moved on, not wanting to admit he had been listening in on their conversation. Instead, he changed the subject to how well her book report was coming along, that was sitting on the kitchen table. It wasn't due until Friday but it was looking good, so far. Looking over at it on the table, he noticed Shelby had made a crocodile. Actually, instead of an actual crocodile, she had printed off a large coloring page of Totodile and used him to represent the crocodile from the children's book, _The Enormous Crocodile_ , by Roald Dahl, and pasted it on green construction paper. On its stomach, Shelby had pasted her book report. All she needed to do by this point was practice giving her report.

"You can practice with me," Luke offered when Shelby told him, she needed to practice.

Laying the guitar on the couch beside her, Shelby stood up to take Gexie over to her tank, dropping a cricket in with her. Before doing anything else, Shelby washed her hands in the bathroom before presenting her book report, informing her dad all about _The Enormous Crocodile_ and what she thought about the story.

Shelby also practiced in front of Lorelai when she stopped by for breakfast the next morning, loving the Shelby customization of the kid's book report.

Thursday evening, Rachel finally called, asking for Shelby.

Remembering her phone call with Jess, Luke wondered what the kid was going to do at this point. She hadn't really been up to talking about it with him, after all.

Once Rachel asked for their daughter, he headed over to pass Shelby, the phone. "It's your mom, kiddo."

Shelby looked up from playing her video game. She hesitated in taking the phone. But, after a moment, took it and placed the phone to her ear.

"Hi," was all she said at first. "Good. School's good."

Luke headed back over to where he was making chili. He had started making it earlier in the afternoon and was just about ready. He heard Shelby tell her mom, she actually was wanting to ask her dad if Ethan and Alan could come over this weekend instead of going to her mom's since it had been awhile since their last sleepover. It seemed like Rachel was okay with Shelby skipping a weekend. Again, it wasn't like this was a court-ordered thing. After what happened on Tuesday, it may have been too soon for the kid. Even if she said it was okay, Luke could guess Rachel wasn't actually okay with it.

It actually didn't come as a surprise when Shelby told her mom, she wasn't invited to her baseball game on Saturday. What did surprise him, however, was when she said, Roger could still come, instead. In fact, it got Luke's full attention, looking straight up at her.

Rachel must have said something about it because Shelby simply told her, "I don' care." There was a pause, assuming Rachel was talking before the kid just suddenly hung up, setting the phone on its stand before returning to her game.

Turning the heat down to simmer, Luke placed the lid on the pot. He then headed over to where Shelby was sitting.

In a gentle, calm tone, he asked, "What was that about, Shell?"

Shelby casually shrugged as she continued to play her game. Unfortunately, she was playing her new _Pokemon_ game while in the middle of a battle, and Luke was told several times before a battle could not be paused. So, since the chili was done and set on simmer to keep warm, Luke took a seat in the chair behind him and waited until she was finished, watching her instead. Unlike her GameBoy games, there was an announcer guy telling the still audience every play going on, like it was a sporting event.

Thankfully, one of her Pokemon breezed through the battle and was over in a short amount of time which Luke told her to save and turn off her game. Shelby did that, wrapping the cord around the controller as she made her way over to turn off the console and the TV.

"So," Luke said, fiddling with his hands, causally in his lap. "You're still upset with your mom, huh?"

Shelby shrugged. "Nah, I don' care anymore. If Mom doesn' like Jess, tha's her opinion."

Luke nodded, knowing full well she did. She was saying what Jess had told her. Or, maybe she really didn't care anymore and Shelby was taking what her cousin said, to heart.

"If you don't care, how come you don't want to go over there, this weekend? Or let your mom come to your game?" he asked, curious.

Shelby had shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans. She shrugged some more. "I 'till don' feel ready to see her, ye'."

"So, you are upset."

Shelby looked down at the floor, messing with the edge of the rug with her big toe. "Maybe, bu' I really am trying no' to care," she admitted.

"How come?" he asked, wanting to see if she would bring up her conversation with Jess.

But, she just shrugged.

"Shelby," Luke said, trying to encourage her, but in a slight firm way. It was still gentle, at least.

Shelby hesitated at first, chewing on her lip before admitting she had talked to Jess. "Jess says I shouldn' care if Mom doesn' like him or no' because he doesn' care. He even said, I should jus' make Mom look 'tupid because tha's bay-si-key wha' she's doing because she doesn' wan' to believe us."

Luke held his tongue for now and asked, "And, what do you think?"

She gave another shrug. "I don' know. Maybe he's righ'?"

He looked at the floor, as well.

"I wish Mom would believe us, bu' if she wan's to think Jess isn' a good person, tha's her choice."

Luke looked up at his little buddy, suddenly impressed. "Wow, kiddo. That's really mature of you."

"I did a lo' of thinking. I was gonna tell you when I was ready, bu' then Mom called and…"

He stopped her before Shelby started rambling like he did. Luke probably should have seen it coming when his little buddy would eventually pick up his ranting habit as she got older.

"It's okay, kiddo. I'm not mad. You know you can always come talk to me when you're ready," Luke reminded her. "And, you can take all the time you need before going over to your mom's again."

Shelby gave him a nod.

"I just have one question, though."

"What's that?" she asked.

"Why is Roger allowed to come to your game?" he questioned.

"Because I'm no' mad a' him and he seems cool. He doesn' need to be punished because of Mom," Shelby answered, causally. "I finally told him… Well, I wro'e to him, he didn' need to go easy on me when we play spor's games and i's been more fun than I though' it would be. Las' time I was over there, we even played catch in the yard and even gave me some more pointers."

Though, he didn't show it, or would admit it, Luke couldn't help grow slightly jealous Roger was now playing catch with Shelby when that was something they had bonded over.

He forced a smile for his little buddy, though. "He did, huh?"

Shelby nodded. "A' firs', I wasn' sure abou' Roger, bu' he really is a cool guy." She shrugged. "I like him, so far."

A lump suddenly formed in his throat. Wasn't this a good thing? If Roger had to be Shelby's stepfather, then it would be a plus if she liked him, right? Not to mention, Luke should know his little buddy would always love him, best. After all, he was her dad. Her best friend. Shelby even said so, herself. So, Luke didn't need to feel threatened.

But, the thought of Shelby having a second father figure scared him, especially when Roger was not only into the same sports but even played video games, well, while Luke kept driving all over the track in _Mario Kart_ , as if the character had a few beers too many.

Luke held up a front for her, though. "That's great, kiddo."

"Besides, if I did go to Mom's house, I would probably jus' hang ou' with only Roger, anyway," she added. "And, I really do wan' to hang ou' with Ethan and Alan."

"Okay, well, if it's okay with Ron and Cheryl, they can come over this weekend."

"I'll tell them tha', tomorrow," she told him.

Standing up, Luke said, "Come on, the chili's ready," with a motion of his head before heading back towards the kitchen area.

Shelby followed him, grabbing a bowl for each of them from the cupboard.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Okay, so I kind of lied when I said we wouldn't hear from Jess in a while but this idea had popped into my head, so yeah... But, as of right now, this is the only one. So, after this, we may not hear from Jess until he supposed to come back later in the season. Maybe there will be small glimpses. _Maybe. We'll see._**

 **Speaking of Jess, in regard to a guest reviewer: Yes, it was Lorelai who wanted him gone, but Jess wanted to leave on his own, so it wasn't just her. From my understanding, anyway.**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Cheryl stopped by the diner, Friday afternoon, after school let out, to talk about the boys staying the night with Shelby. Since Alan and Shelby had a game, Saturday night, the two adults agreed he and Ethan could stay over Friday night and all day, Saturday, and she and Ron would meet them there.

All three kids were excited to be able to sleep over at Shelby's place, spending the entire afternoon playing video games.

Since Fridays were one of the diner's busiest days, the kids had the apartment to themselves, but of course, being the protective parent he was, Luke made sure to find time to go up there and check in on them, asking if they needed anything. The kids seemed to remain occupied, though.

For dinner, Luke offered some leftover chili since they still had a ton. Both Ethan and Alan thanked him, as well as complimented his cooking. Ethan pointed out, Luke and their mom could open a restaurant together because they were both very good cooks.

"Dad already has a restauran', though," Shelby reminded Ethan.

"Well then, Mom could get a job down there and with the both of them, would knock people's socks off."

Shelby stared at her friend with a puzzled face. One eyebrow rose. "How would my dad and your mom knock people's socks off."

The boy shrugged. "I don't know. I heard my dad say it, once, when he was talking about our mom's cooking."

Luke just silently snickered at the kids' innocence while washing some dishes that were in the sink.

With the kids and the few dishes taken care of, Luke told them, he was heading downstairs to start closing down the diner and to holler if they needed anything, making sure they knew he didn't actually mean yell.

"Then, why tell us to holler?" Alan pointed out. "If you don't actually mean to holler when we need something?"

Luke let out a sigh, trying his best not to lose his cool. "It's...uh… It's just a figure of speech. Sometimes, people say… What I mean… Forget I said anything. Just come get me if you do need something." With that said, he headed downstairs, catching the kids snickering at him as he headed towards the door. Luke just rolled his eyes but couldn't help smirk to himself. He still couldn't believe this was his life now. If someone had told him, several years ago, children would be having a sleepover in his apartment, he'd probably laugh at them.

Once the kids had their fill of video games, Alan had suggested having a _Harry Potter_ marathon. So, for the rest of the evening, they watched both movies, back to back. They had moved the coffee table and spread out their sleeping bags in its place.

When the diner was cleaned and locked up, Luke headed upstairs just as the troll was making its way inside the girls' lavatory and soon realized the kids were quoting their favorite lines, showing how many times they had seen the movie.

Letting them continue their thousandth viewing, Luke went inside the bathroom to shower and get ready for bed, himself. When he came out, Harry Potter was now playing that game they play on broomsticks that Luke can never remember the name of.

He stopped to watch, standing there with his hands on his sides as all three were staring at the screen as Harry was trying to go after the flying, tiny, winged ball the size of a golf ball.

"Go, Harry!" Shelby cheered. "You can do it!"

"Shell, you've seen this a thousand times. You know he gets it," he reminded her.

"I know," she replied, barely glancing at him.

Luke just walked away, heading towards the kitchen. To be fair, that was basically him as a kid whenever he watched an episode of _Star Trek_ that he had already seen, several times before, and was pretty sure William had called him out on it, too.

The kids ended up staying up until midnight, after Luke had gone to bed. As long as they were quiet and stayed out of trouble, and didn't stay up too late, he was fine with it. In fact, midnight was the cut off time.

The next morning, Luke woke up to all three kids passed out like rocks. Apparently, they weren't tired enough to wake up to catch a new episode of _Pokemon_. He came up later, finding all three sitting cross-legged on their sleeping bags, each with a bowl of Trix, watching the cartoon and discussing how there was no way Ash could win against his rival when his Charizard was weak to his rival's Pokemon which Shelby reminded them this was the same kid who's Pikachu won battles he shouldn't have.

"Good morning, Shelby. Good morning, Ethan. Good morning, Alan," he greeted each of them. "Everything…" Luke was suddenly cut off when Ethan shushed him, stating this was important.

Shelby motioned for her dad with his hand, to whisper so they wouldn't disturb the show. "This is a huge ba'tle for Ash and his rival because he's never beaten Gary before," she explained to him.

"Ah," Luke nodded as if things have been clear. He actually didn't completely understand it, but as Lorelai would say, Luke was him, when it came to missing things or not understanding something.

So, he let the kids, be.

They did come downstairs an hour later after their cartoons were over, asking if they could help out, including Alan. Sure, why not? So, Shelby, Alan, and Ethan were all put to work, refilling the napkins and condiments. Ethan and Shelby swept the floor while Alan held the dust pan for them.

After lunch, the kids then headed back upstairs to play video games again until it was time to head to leave for Shelby and Alan's game, which both got ready for.

Since Luke's truck only had two extra seats for passengers, Luke had to ask Lorelai if she was going to the game, this weekend when she stopped by.

"I hadn't planned on it, but I can. Sure, no problem," she assured him and asked if he ever considered a mini van.

Luke gave the woman, a hard look like she was crazy. "You're kidding, right?"

She shrugged. "May make things easier for times like this. Or, at least upgrade to a truck with a backseat."

"I'll think about it," Luke said. Really, he was just trying to end the conversation and probably would forget the conversation even happened.

So, Luke and the kids hitched a ride with Lorelai. Thankfully, the fields were dry enough to play on. The ground was still a little muddy and there was a possibly Shelby would be muddy by the end of the evening, but at least it didn't resemble a lake anymore.

To his surprise and dismay, Roger did show up, bringing along his small video recorder to record the game for Rachel.

Lorelai had to remind him to be nice before she greeted the guy for the both of them. "Where's Rachel?" she asked, afterwards.

"Shelby didn't want Rachel, here, I guess, but said I could still come. So, I brought the camera so she could still see it."

"Oh, why didn't Shelby want her mom, here?" Lorelai looked over at Luke when she asked.

"Uh, it's a long story that happened during this week's session," Luke told her.

Lorelai gave him a sympathetic look. "Another bad one, huh?"

"Yeah. That's why she didn't go over there, this weekend." They went over to sit on the bleachers. Since Luke couldn't share much as that was the agreement of the group, they couldn't continue talking about it, despite wanting to. Though, Luke was half sure she'd be siding with Rachel, considering Lorelai wasn't much of a fan of Jess, either. At least she put aside her differences when he and Rory were dating, last year. As far as Luke knew, Shelby didn't even know about Lorelai's feelings on the matter.

Since there wasn't a town meeting, Shelby had her usual cheering section again. On the count of there being no practice that week, the coach requested the kids arrive early so they could get in a short practice before the game. Because of that, they were tired by the end of the game. Despite that, the Badgers still managed to play a good game. They didn't win, but the kids still put in their all.

After the game, while everyone was giving Shelby and Alan, praise, Roger came over once Babette and Morey were finished talking to them.

He held a hand out for a high five, offering more praise to both of them before turning to just Shelby, to ask, if it was alright with her dad, to go grab dinner somewhere and have some one on one time.

"I'm not sure, Roger," Luke told him, hesitant to let the guy take his daughter, just the two of them.

Roger raised a hand in front of him while holding onto the shoulder strap of his camera's case. "Hey, I know you don't know me and all. I'd probably be iffy on someone taking my kid, too," he said. "But, I promise I would have her home by whatever time you want. If there's something she can't have, I will abide by your rules. I just thought it was a perfect time to get to know Shelby, and spend some one on one time with her and get to know her, more."

"I can even give you my cell number," he added when Luke still hadn't responded.

"I think it's great you want to spend time with Shelby and get to know her," Lorelai spoke up.

Luke looked over at her, in surprise. "You do?"

"Yeah," she replied. "It shows how much he cares about Shelby, and Rachel, as well." Lorelai looked at Shelby, next. "What do ya think, Shelby?"

Shelby looked out the corner of her eye as if to think on it and shrugged, as if to say, "Sure."

"You know I won't push you to do something you don't want to do, right?" Roger made sure to ask her, bending over to be at eye level with the kid.

She gave him a nod.

"And, we don't even have to talk about your mom," he assured. "We can just talk about baseball if you want." Roger gave a kind smile at that.

But, of course, it was still up to Luke whether or not Shelby could go with him. He wanted so badly to say no, still nervous about the idea of his little buddy having a second father figure and with this guy, who didn't exactly give a good, first impression. But, one couldn't always go off a first impression, anyway. So, with Lorelai's encouragement, Luke ended up saying yes.

Roger promised to have Shelby home by nine-thirty when Luke told him the time and at least walked with them to the parking lot where he gave him one of his business cards with his cell number.

Exchanging a hug and kiss, Luke let Shelby go with Roger, watching as she climbed into the front seat. Every fiber in his being wanted to tell Shelby not to go. He knew he had to believe things would be fine, even though there were stories of kids being kidnapped on the news and usually the perpetrator was known to them. He couldn't think that way and told himself, Shelby would be fine.

On the drive back to the diner, Luke stared out the window of Lorelai's jeep. He couldn't help continue to worry about his little buddy. It wasn't like Luke sent her with a complete stranger.

"She'll be just fine."

Luke was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Lorelai speak. "Huh?"

"I said, she'll be fine," she repeated.

"I know." He turned back to the window.

She gave him a knowing look. "Then, what are you worrying about?"

He shook his head. "Nothing," he denied.

"Uh huh," Lorelai stared towards the road ahead, not buying it.

"Really. I'm not worried."

"Then why did you hesitate back there?"

"I didn't," he continued to deny.

"Look, I'm sure Roger is a nice guy and will take good care of Shelby," Lorelai assured him. "And, he was willing to go by your rules, so that's a plus. Right?"

"Yeah, I guess." Luke stared at the dash in front of him.

"And, it really is great he wants to get to know Shelby. Lord knows, the kid could use all the support she can get."

Luke was silent that time.

"And, listen, I get you're worried about Roger taking your place."

He looked up at that. "I'm not worried about him taking my place," he tried to deny again, defensively.

Lorelai kept glancing over at him with a grin on her face. "Really, Luke? I can see it written all over your face. You and Shelby are the closest father and daughter I know, and in walks this guy who is now Shelby's stepfather, who has similar interests, and you're not one bit nervous Shelby's gonna like him, better?"

Luke turned his head away to stare out his window again. How was this woman always able to read him like a book?

"She won't," Lorelai reassured him. "You're always gonna be Dad, Luke. That won't ever change."

His gaze dropped towards the door underneath the window.

"Shelby loves you, best, but it's awesome to have other people in her cheering section, cheering her on besides just you. I mean, Rory and I had you and the whole town, and everyone at the inn, cheering her on when she was growing up, and still does. I couldn't be more happy she has so much support who loves and cares for her, but me and her will always be the closest and that's never gonna change because I'm Mom. The one, front and center, cheering the loudest."

Luke couldn't help smile a little when she had included him. He chuckled when Lorelai added the part, cheering the loudest, considering she was the loudest person he knew.

"You see what I'm saying?"

Luke glanced over at her, dropping it for a moment. "Yeah," he said, afterwards, looking at her again.

"If Rachel trusts him enough to marry him, I'm sure Shelby is in very good hands," she added. "It really is great he wants to get to know her, who is a part of Rachel's life. Which means, Roger would be a part of Shelby's by association. It would probably be good if they got along, don't you think?"

He forced a smile. "Yeah, that would probably be a good thing."

Lorelai gave him an encouraging smile which Luke couldn't help return.

On the way home, Luke offered to pay for gas since he had requested her services in getting to the game in the first place, before dropping him off at the diner. He also offered to make her some fresh coffee but Lorelai declined, needing to get home. So, they said good night to each other which Luke thanked her for the ride and everything.

"My pleasure," she replied.

Luke waved from the sidewalk which Lorelai returned before pulling away from the curb.

While waiting for Shelby, Luke kept the diner open, a little bit longer, trying to keep his mind off of worrying about the kid.

Right as promised, Roger pulled up in front of the diner, fifteen minutes before nine-thirty.

Luke watched through the window as Shelby climbed out and waved at him when she shut the passenger door. Roger at least waited until she was inside before driving away, which Luke held the door open for her. He also waved him off, in thanks.

"Hey, kiddo," Luke greeted as Shelby hugged him, hello, holding an arm wrapped around her head. "How'd it go?"

"Good," she replied, a little enthusiastic. Shelby even sounded surprised, herself.

Luke looked on in eager interest. "Really?"

Shelby nodded. "Yeah, we wen' to this 'teakhouse place tha' had really good ribs and shared one since it was so much, and we watched the Phillies play the Braves on the TV tha' was near our table."

"So, you had a good time, then?"

Again, she nodded. "Mom called while we were there, and he talked to her for a minu'e, bu' he didn' make me talk. I 'till said hi."

"But that was it?" he asked, surprised.

"I mean, Mom was sad she couldn't be there, or come to my game, and I did kind of feel bad. I was jus' 'till upse' with her. Maybe I could spend nex' weekend a' Mom's house. I don' know ye'."

"Whatever you decide, kiddo. It's up to you," he reminded her, touching a hand to her shoulder.

"I didn' tell her I was thinking it, though," she added.

"That's might be best," Luke said before suggesting she'd go upstairs and shower off.

Shelby headed upstairs while Luke got started closing down for the night.

He was glad Shelby ended up having a nice time with Roger. It was also great she had at least briefly talked to Rachel, even if it was just to say hi. Luke knew it would take some time for Jess' advice to fully sink in. The kid just needed some time to process everything. You don't just get over something, even if her favorite person said she should.

Now, all Luke had to think about was his private session on Thursday. One whole hour of having to sit in an office talking to Lauren about who knows what.

Oh, joy…

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **The session was supposed to be this chapter but it got too long and the chapters involving the sessions can get pretty lengthy on their own, so next chapter will be Luke's session with Lauren. Also, I don't normally make a big deal when I catch typos l missed in editing, but this one is actually too important not to. During Luke and Shelby's talk towards the end of last chapter, there was a "didn't" where there should have been a "did", that actually totally changes the sentence. It's fixed now. So, if there was any confusion, I apologize. One last thing, in this chapter: no, Rachel was NOT trying to guilt trip Shelby when she said she felt bad for not letting her mom at least come to her game. That was Shelby's own feelings. I don't care anymore if you don't like Rachel, that's fine. I just wanted to mention that. Sorry, there couldn't be a Christmas chapter this year, but with juggling two stories, I couldn't really catch up in time. So, we'll probably have Christmas in Spring or something. Not sure yet. Whenever we get to that point.**

 **I might have the next chapter out before Christmas, but if not, I hope you have a happy holiday! :)**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

With the boys staying the night, Shelby's game and her going to have dinner with Roger, Luke had almost completely forgotten to ask how the book report went on Friday and asked over breakfast, Monday morning.

Shelby told him how it was still unnerving for her and had waited until almost everyone had gone before working up the courage to give her report. Mrs. Sweeney hadn't enjoyed the _Pokemon_ reference she did in coloring her crocodile, as much as most of the class did, but since Shelby had grasped the book as intended, still gave her a good grade for it and told her to leave _Pokemon_ out of her report next time despite the cartoon not actually being referenced in the report itself. Basically, Mrs. Sweeney didn't want cartoons drawn in the student's classwork.

Shelby had been disappointed she couldn't draw her favorite things. Luke at least reassured he thought it looked awesome and reminded her, Lorelai had, as well. It was Shelby who also pointed out, a lot of the kids in her class liked it, too.

"And, hey, at least she gave you a good grade for it," he also pointed out, which also cheered Shelby up.

Despite having just finished the first class book unit on Friday, Mrs. Sweeney already moved on to the next book unit when Shelby went to school that same day, announcing they were jumping into chapter books, starting with a book called, _The Phantom Tollbooth_ since the whole class had done very well on the last book and felt they were ready for chapter books.

Shelby told her dad how, like they did while reading _The Enormous Crocodile_ , Mrs. Sweeney would start reading aloud before calling on the class to continue reading before calling another student to pick up where they left off.

Because _The Phantom Tollbooth_ was a lot longer than _The Enormous Crocodile_ , that meant there would be plenty of chances for the whole class to read aloud. Mrs. Sweeney had ended up pulling Shelby out of the room and out into the hall to encouragingly ask Shelby, since she was doing well with giving reports in front of the class and the fact they were a month into the school year, if Shelby would attempt to read aloud, as well and even brought it to Miss Kelly's attention.

Being about twenty chapters and the class would be reading through it for the next few weeks, Shelby had plenty of time and chances which Mrs. Sweeney wanted her to at least try as she wanted the whole class to have a turn, including Shelby, herself.

"I have no doubt you can read aloud to your class," Luke told her, encouraging, as well.

"Yeah, bu' I'm no' as good as everyone else," she pointed out.

"So?" He shrugged. "Isn't reading how you get to be a better reader?"

"On your own time, bu' no' in fron' of the whole class who would laugh if I messed up on a word," Shelby continued to make excuses on why she couldn't read aloud.

"So, everyone in your class is a perfect reader? No one else has ever stumbled on a word?"

Shelby glanced off to the side. "Well, no," she admitted. "Bu' there are also really good readers in the class."

Babette and Morey had been in the diner, eating when they overheard Luke and Shelby talking.

"You gotta learn to cut yourself some slack, sugar," the older woman scolded the kid. "No one hardly gets it right the first hundred times. Give yourself some time and just shake it off when you mess up and get right back on that horse." Babette swung her fist in front of her in emphasis.

Morey agreed in his usual monotone, also encouraging the kid.

"See, kiddo?" Luke redirected her attention back to him. "I wasn't that strong of a reader either when I was a kid, but I grew up and got better at it. I may not read for fun like your cousin or Rory does, but I can read a manual and figure it out the rest from there. And, if someone does laugh at ya, then they're a jerk and not worth your time."

Shelby nodded.

"Just remember, no one's perfect," he reminded her.

So, the next day, Shelby went to school with Luke, Babette, and Morey's advice, knowing the class would be reading chapter two. It had taken a minute or two, and her little heart was pounding in her chest, but Shelby was able to read two sentences which Mrs. Sweeney stopped her there and called on someone else.

Luke gave a confused look. "She only made you read two sentences?" he questioned.

Shelby only shrugged, just as confused. They assumed Mrs. Sweeney was being nice and didn't want to overwhelm the kid too much, knowing it was hard enough having to read aloud. Nonetheless, Shelby felt a small amount of confidence that she could do it and being able to read aloud could only get easier from there.

As much as Luke would have liked for Thursday to take it's time, he too had to face his own fear he didn't want to do. Like he had done for his little buddy, Shelby also helped talk him through it, making sure her dad knew that Lauren was nice and that he could get through the session just like she was able to read two sentences out loud.

After the breakfast customers came through and everyone was off to school or work, Luke and Caesar made sure to clean for the lunch hour before he had to leave for Providence, arriving there a quarter till eleven.

Luke waited until Lauren was finished with another client before heading back to her office, making small talk on how he was doing, and how Shelby was doing since last week.

"She's doing better," he said, swinging his hands at his sides, softly tapping the side of his fist with his palm as they walked through the hallway.

"That's good," she replied, cheerfully. "Was she able to come up with a word for her mom, yet?"

Luke had completely forgotten about Lauren assigning Shelby homework to come up with at least one word to describe her mom. "Not to my knowledge, she hasn't." She might have even forgotten, to be honest. But, Luke wasn't sure if he should mention that to Lauren or not and figured he would remind Shelby before next Tuesday.

They headed inside Lauren's office, sitting across from each other at the table where they would normally sit.

"There's been so much other things going on, you know?"

Lauren nodded. "I'm sure it has."

"Really," he insisted.

"I wasn't disbelieving you, Luke," she assured him.

"Oh," he replied, caught off guard. "I'm sorry, I…"

Lauren just smiled at him. "It's okay. The way I said it could have made it seem like I didn't believe you. So, what's been going on?"

Luke took in a deep breath, letting it out in a huff. "Well, the diner keeps me pretty busy. And, Shelby had a book report she had to give in front of the class, last Friday. That was a bit unsettling. For her, I mean."

"How did she do?" she asked with high interest and listened as Luke shared what Shelby had shared with him about not going until the very end when most of her class had gone. "Sounds to me like third grade is turning out to be the year Shelby fully breaks out of her shell."

"Seems like it," he agreed. "I'll say one thing, that teacher of hers sounds tough."

"She may also be good for Shelby. Sometimes, we need that tough person, to be able to bring out the best in us and force us to come out of our comfort zones. We get so comfortable where we are, that we don't want to leave until we are forced out of it and most of the time, it's not pleasant when that happens."

Luke stared down at his lap where he was holding his hands. Glancing up, he said, "But, it can also backfire, can't it? I mean, if you force someone to do something, you can also push them further away."

Lauren nodded once. "You are correct, sometimes a person will push away and build a wall between you. But, if it is done right, where both parties feel respected, it can help them benefit from it, as well." She pointed a hand towards him as Lauren was now basically talking with her hand. "Sometimes, the person is also not ready or just doesn't want to step out of their comfort zone because that's the only thing they know and trying something new scares them. You understand what I'm saying?"

"Sure, yeah," he said with a shrug. "I mean, Shelby wants to come out of her shell, more. She's just unsure of herself a lot of the time. I will say, her anxiety attacks haven't really been as bad as they used to be a couple years ago when we met."

"Anxiety attacks?" she asked, unsure.

Luke explained how Shelby would have moments where she would close back into herself and wouldn't be able to speak at all and how he had to help her calm down before she could speak again. It would make sense Lauren wouldn't know of the anxiety attacks since she and Madison had only known Shelby to not speak at all, except with Bailey.

"Come to think of it, they've gotten scarce since my nephew moved in with us and they started spending time with each other," he said in realization.

"So, you feel your nephew has helped Shelby blossom over the last couple years?"

"Oh, absolutely," Luke immediately replied. "I don't know how Shelby did it, but she managed to get him to read to her and now she's reading on her own. We're still working on helping her read aloud in class but when we met, she couldn't even read the words on her _Pokemon_ game. Now, she just finished reading _Matilda_ a few weeks ago."

Her eyebrows rose. "That is quite the accomplishment."

"Her speech sounds has greatly improved thanks to Jess," Luke continued. "Even now, during their weekly phone calls, he makes Shelby work on the sounds she's still struggling with. And, I mean, it's probably not something to encourage, but when Jess found out Shelby was being bullied in school, he taught her how to, not only defend herself, but how to stick up for herself." He then chuckled, "Funny how Jess was the only one who questioned the fact I was letting Shelby go off on her own, unsupervised when she was seven. Mostly because we live in a small town where everyone pretty much knows each other and where nothing really happens," he quickly added.

Lauren smiled. "It sounds like your nephew really does care about Shelby."

Luke held a shrug for a moment. "It's amazing the effect that kid has on her cousin. My sister sent him to me because she couldn't handle him getting into all kinds of trouble. Jess never cared about anyone when he first came, then he meets Shelby, and Rory, Lorelai's daughter, who's the same age as him, and suddenly Shelby becomes his baby sister, and he and Rory are dating."

"You'd be surprised how someone can affect a person when others couldn't, especially someone who's troubled like your nephew," she said, now leaning to the side on her right elbow. "Shelby is a sweet girl who was able to touch your nephew's heart."

"I read recently in a hero report Shelby wrote last year, the reason Jess did all those things for her, and other things like play video games together was because he didn't have the greatest life growing up and wanted to make sure Shelby's was better." As he admitted that, much to his liking, as Luke did not like expressing himself. He wasn't even sure where that had come from. _Don't start spilling everything!_ He thought to himself as he stared at the table.

But, Luke couldn't help think back to the guilt that had come up while reading Shelby's hero report and about having to kick Jess out. It was a minute or so before he realized Lauren was calling his name.

"Huh?" He looked up at once, snapping out of his thoughts.

"I asked if everything was alright," she told him.

Luke rubbed at his eyes with his right hand. "Yeah," he said afterwards. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? We can talk about it if you like," Lauren offered."

His hand returned to his lap. "Yeah, I'm good. Besides, I think Shelby is slowly coming to terms that Rachel will never accept Jess, again, thanks to _Jess_ , who told her, not everyone will like you and that it's better to move on and focus on more important things."

Lauren looked at him, impressed. "Okay, so, between you and me because technically I'm not supposed to take sides. It sounds to me that Rachel is only judging on outward appearance alone when it comes to Jess."

"I think it goes back to the whole 'don't care' outlook Jess has and doesn't want to see Shelby stress over something he doesn't see as a big deal to him," Luke guessed. "I just find it hypocritical of Rachel to think the way she does of Jess when she basically did the same thing. I mean, who leaves because they're told they're hated, out of anger that clearly wasn't meant? And, for a whole month?"

She shrugged her hands up. "Some have different coping methods of dealing with situations, especially when they're not good at confrontations."

"But, she didn't even say anything. At least not in person. I go over to her apartment to find no one home and a note on the fridge, stating she was taking a trip for work. Don't even say for how long. Shelby was devastated. It took Jess and I a long time to get her back to her happy self again, and even then, she was still dealing with the guilt, thinking it was her fault Rachel left."

Sitting up from where she was still leaning on her elbow, Lauren asked, "Can I ask, how long have you and Rachel known each other? I assume you and her were together at some point?"

"I've known her since we were kids. About nine or ten, I think," he tried hard to remember when Rachel and her family had moved to Stars Hollow. "No, wait, it had to be earlier than that because her oldest sister used to babysit my sister and I." He thought some more. "Had to have been some time after our mom passed away, so I think maybe around six or seven?" Had to have been around there, remembering the summer his mother had passed and returning to school the very next fall and not wanting to talk to anyone, and William needing the extra help while having to run the store and do other things.

"We weren't really friends much in grade school. Not close friends that hung out a whole lot, anyway," he explained. "In fact, I'm pretty sure, now, I knew her sister for a while before getting to know Rachel. I just remember her wearing clothes she'd borrow from her brother and climbing a lot of trees. It wasn't until…" Luke stared up towards the ceiling, his brow scrunched up in thought. "Third or fourth grade, a couple buddies and me were playing a small game of baseball out in the surrounding woods around our town, and Rachel stumbling upon us and asked if she could play. The other two refuged until I told them to shove it and asked she had played before. She said no, on the count of her dad not letting her play on a team but her brother taught her a little and had watched him and her other brothers play, so we, or rather I let her join. Rachel wasn't half bad, actually. Probably could've done well if her dad let her play on a team. Even the other two were impressed," Luke shrugged, also shrugging his hand with his palm up.

"Sounds familiar," Lauren chuckled.

Luke chuckled as well towards his hand that had moved to the table. "Yeah, I kind of realized who Shelby took after the moment I noticed she was a tomboy."

"So, is that when you and Rachel became friends?"

"Uh," Luke thought on Lauren's question. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Not immediately after. Sometime later, maybe even that same school year, I remember sitting under a tree at recess, tossing rocks at a deserted bird's nest and hearing rustling above me and Rachel jumping down in front of me. It was picture day that day and already the dress her parents made her wear was ripped and covered with dirt, and her hair that you could tell her mom tried to fix was a mess, and we haven't even had our picture taken yet." Luke smiled just thinking about the scene. "That girl was something, I tell ya. She surely was."

"So, what happened?"

He shrugged again. "She sat down next to me. We talked. I'm pretty sure that's when I found out her sister was also our babysitter, or by that point, had been. I believe that was also when she told me how strict her dad was and how they were always butting heads about the things Rachel wanted to do, or didn't want to do, while her mom tried to allow her to do some things, spoiling her because she was the baby of the family. But, even then, her sister was a teenager and her mom missed having a little girl around to make dresses for and do all this other stuff parents do with their daughters, and Rachel didn't want anything to do with any of that stuff. Like Shelby doesn't want anything to do with stuff like that, and being not so talkative as a kid, I'd just sit there and listen as Rachel basically poured her heart out to me. I couldn't help admire her the more she'd tell me what she wanted to do. Eventually, when my dad met Rachel, he tried to talk to her dad, get him to ease off. Apparently, that only made Rachel's dad despise mine and started a fuse between them. Mine liked Rachel, though. When we were in high school, he gave her a job in the store."

"That's now the diner," Lauren said, making sure.

Luke stared at her, confused. "Yeah, how did you…?"

She smiled with her eyes closed, briefly. "Shelby told me when we had our private session," she answered when Lauren opened her eyes.

"Ah," he nodded.

"But, yeah," Luke continued with his story. "My dad had told me, he wished my sister was focused and had admirations like Rachel did. Well, the focus, anyway. Liz did want to be a dancer when we were kids. If anything, my sister was basically what Rachel's parents wanted. While Dad let me play sports, he let Liz take every class Miss Patty taught to girls her age. I mean, I had thought that's why Liz wanted to go to New York, for, in the first place, regardless of our dad being sick at the time and he wanted her to pursue her dream. If that's what Liz wanted. But then she ended up meeting Jess' father, married him, had Jess, and of course that brought other priorities. Unfortunately, Jimmy didn't see having a wife and kid, a priority, and booked the first chance he got. Never saw him again until just this last spring."

Luke was now basically in full rant mode as he rambled on, spouting out what he had been holding in all this time. "I thought things had been going well. I thought Jess was going to school as per our agreement for him to live with us. I thought things were going well. He had a job, not only at Walmart but I let him work in the diner. I gave him a roof over his head, rent free. He had a girlfriend, a cousin who looked up to him and cared about him. Then Jimmy shows up out of nowhere and I thought I was protecting Jess the way I thought I was protecting Shelby by keeping, not only Jimmy away, but Rachel, too. I didn't want to see them upset. They were doing so well, or so I thought. Oh, boy, was I wrong. Instead of fixing things, I made things a hell of a lot worse. Not only did I have to kick Jess out, I drove away my own kid, who then stayed with Lorelai and Rory for almost a month, who, by the way, also had to suffer because I _thought_ I was doing the right thing. All because I couldn't tell them the truth!"

He was finally able to take a breath after that long rant. Looking across the table, Luke then realized he had just spilled almost everything he had been holding onto to a therapist, who was just sitting there, listening. He couldn't help feel his face glow red.

"Sorry," he quickly apologized, feeling awkward now as Luke began fidgeting in his seat.

Lauren remained kind and reassuring. "No, don't be. This is what I'm here for."

Luke leaned forward on his elbows as he dropped his face in his hands and started rubbing them along it before stopping at the bottoms of his palms. He then pressed them against his eyes.

"I just feel like I failed him."

"Who?" he heard Lauren ask. "Your nephew?"

He sighed. "Yeah."

"I'm sure you did all you could," she tried to encourage him in sympathy.

Luke dropped his arms on the table in front of him while staring at it. "Shelby won't even let me take their bed apart to put hers on the floor so she doesn't have to keep climbing up a ladder every time she goes to bed," he admitted softly but enough Lauren heard.

"It can be hard when someone we care about leaves, especially when we've already lost someone before."

"The hardest part has been the fact I told myself I wouldn't let Shelby go through that again."

Lauren shrugged. "We can't guarantee something like that. It's a part of life to have people come and go throughout our lives. Some, more than others."

"I told Rachel I didn't want her breaking her heart again," he continued. "The many times she had left on me, after promising she was ready to settle down. Then she comes back and makes the same promise, only this time, our daughter was involved. If it were just me, maybe I would have taken the risk, but…" Luke shook his head, repeatedly, denying the fact, even if they didn't have Shelby, there would have still been a contributing factor as to why he might've not taken the risk.

"Some just aren't cut out for the settling and starting a family life," she continued to offer her outlook. "Not saying, what Rachel did was right, nor am I making excuses for her. Personally, I feel taking off just because her daughter said something out of anger is, well, immature. To me, anyway. But, from what you've told me, it sounds like Rachel has some unresolved internal conflicts due to her upbringing that needs to be dealt with."

Luke gave a long shrug, lifting his hand up in the process. "I guess. Or, that's what Madison thought, too when she suggested therapy in the first place."

"It also makes me see that in order for the three of you to resolve your issues with each other, is letting go of your own pasts," Lauren added.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Shelby has her fears from growing up in foster homes, Rachel has her upbringing and her unresolved conflict with her parents, and it sounds like there's some emotional stuff involving your family, plus your relationship with Rachel," she explained.

Luke dropped his head back, realizing his mistake. This is why he hated therapy. He didn't want to revisit the past. What happened, happened and should stay there. Why revisit it when he had other things to worry about? Like the present, and his daughter, for instance.

"I'm sure letting go and releasing all that you had to live with can help you have better relationships, especially with Shelby, even. But, holding onto that stuff is only going to make it harder."

"I seem to be doing just fine being a dad despite everything," he shrugged some more. "I don't see why Rachel can't be a mom? I mean, apparently even Nicole was doing better than she was, in Shelby's eyes."

"Nicole wasn't Mom, though, Luke. It's different when there's no disciplinary involved. The same goes for Lorelai, as well. Again, I don't know her, or Nicole, for that matter, so I can't really give a judgement on how they would parent."

Luke was staring at the table again.

"If I may ask, what happened to Nicole? Shelby says you started dating in February of this year until you stopped over the summer?" she asked, curious.

He looked up at once when Lauren mentioned Shelby had told her when he and Nicole dated, getting nervous. "Uh, what exactly did Shelby tell you?" he also asked.

"Besides how long you dated? Only that eventually, you started bringing Shelby along when you would go see a musical in New York or to a movie or out to eat. She said Nicole came to a few of her soccer games and even let Shelby come spend a weekend with her."

"But, that's it?" Luke continued to ask, hopeful.

"I'm pretty sure," Lauren looked toward the ceiling as if thinking. She nodded suddenly, "Yeah, just that. Why? Is there something else?"

"Oh, uh, nope," he quickly shook his head. "Just thought I'd ask."

"I don't understand," she said, turning her head to look at him, out of the corner of her eye. "If there's nothing else, why ask?"

Luke was feeling like a trapped animal now. Why did he ask? _Dang it, Luke! Get it together!_ First, Alan, not Lauren? What was wrong with him?

He sat there, nervous as he awkwardly stared at the woman.

"Luke?"

It didn't seem like there was any way out of this. "What we say…" he started to say.

"Mm hm," she nodded once.

"It stays here between us, like what you and Shelby talked about that you promised not to share until she was ready?"

"That's right."

Taking another deep breath and letting it out, Luke mustered up to confess some more of his personal life. "Uh...Rachel wasn't the only one to get married over the summer," he managed to say, so far.

Lauren's head twitched in confusion. "Okay," she said.

"Since Shelby took that trip with her friends and their family and would be gone for most of the summer, I figured I'd take Nicole on a trip of our own, especially since our ski trip we had planned had been cancelled due to Jess getting into a fight at a cop-raided party."

"Okay."

"Nicole and I were actually enjoying ourselves and we were having a good time, despite the water glass guy."

"Water glass guy?" she asked.

He then briefly explained the water glass guy before getting back to the cruise. "We were drinking...a lot. With everything that happened and the idea floating around in my head, I ended up," Luke swallowed, mustering up the confession.

He had to take another deep breath. "I proposed to her and she said yes. So, we asked the captain to marry us, which is apparently legal, and now I am in the middle of a divorce and dealing with a bunch of divorce lawyers."

"How come a divorce?"

"Well, we kind of rushed into a marriage without giving it much thought, and I'm pretty sure the booze we were downing was clouding most of our judgement," he answered, not thrilled to have shared the accidental marriage out loud once more. "Took some time to explain to Shelby, it was a mistake that shouldn't have happened. But, it goes back to what I was saying about Rachel. Shelby really wants, _needs_ , actually, a mom."

"Why was it a mistake? Even if you both were drinking, there could possibly have been some feelings involved," Lauren suggested. Pretty sure Shelby had also said something to that effect, as well.

Luke searched around everywhere but Lauren. "I don't know."

"Did you like her?"

"She was great. Whenever we went out, we had a good time, and she was terrific with Shelby, even when she let slip about Rachel not liking Jess and Nicole was very understanding about the whole situation. Her only gripe was, that I wasn't honest with Shelby when I forbid Rachel from seeing her. In fact, Nicole thinks Rachel not liking Shelby around Jess is a control thing instead of concern for her safety."

Lauren held her arms folded on the table. "Like, how? Like Rachel just wants to be in control of Shelby? Or of the situation, itself?"

He shrugged. "Not sure. Nicole just said, she saw it as a control thing."

"Well, going by what you told me about her relationship with her parents, sometimes no matter how many times we say, we won't be the parent our own parents were, we still end up doing something they had done. I said I wouldn't feed my kids fast food because a lot of time, my mom had to stop at the drive thru on the way home after practices and gymnastics ran late, and I was going to make sure we sat down to eat as a family every single night."

"What happened?"

"My youngest had a karate belt ceremony that ran until eight and we didn't have enough time to cook before or after, and then that followed to other times where I couldn't hold onto that promise."

Luke reached back to scratch at an itch. "I have noticed times where she seemed just like her father," he admitted, honestly.

"Well, hopefully hearing how well our session went encourages Rachel to meet with me, next," she said. "The control thing does make a lot of sense, if the feet on the furniture rule is anything to go by. How's that going, by the way?"

"Last I heard, the only piece of furniture Shelby sits on are the beds. Otherwise, she sits on the floor," Luke recalled from the last time Shelby was over there.

"Whatever works, I guess, but I'm sure the couch would be more comfortable."

"Shelby says as long as she has a pillow to lay on, she's fine. Easier to spread out on the floor, apparently."

She smiled at Shelby's reasoning before looking down at her watch. "Well, looks like we're about out of time. I'm actually supposed to be meeting a colleague for lunch right about now."

"Oh, uh, sorry about that," Luke felt inclined to apologize, looking at his own watch.

Lauren waved him off with her hand. "Don't sweat it. I don't have a one PM appointment today so it works out." She stretched her arms out as they stood to their feet. "So, how do you feel?"

"A little weirded out but okay, I guess," he admitted.

She snickered. "Why's that?"

Luke blatantly said, "I just spilled my guts which I normally don't ever do."

"Hey, if we can't feel weird for our kids, who can we feel weird for?" Lauren shrugged, teasing him.

Luke considered on that statement.

She walked him out to the waiting room where Lauren asked, "So, I'll see you, Tuesday with Rachel and Shelby?"

"I'll see you, Tuesday," he replied, with a nod.

Waving, Luke then headed outside to where he had parked and slid in under the wheel. It was indeed a weird experience but he couldn't help feel slightly better than how he felt going in. Keyword being slightly because that was only still the beginning.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Happy Holidays!**

 **Small, funny side note. I unintentionally posted chapter 24 on the 24th of December. Thought that was pretty amusing.**


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Shelby asked her dad how the session went, later that day when she got home from school, which Luke actually admitted to her how it was better than he thought it would be. It made Shelby happy to hear her dad's session went well and had hope, her mom's would also go well if Rachel agreed to having one, now that she was the only one of the trio that still needed to meet with Lauren, alone.

Later, that evening, after Luke closed and the two were working on dinner, together, Rachel called to check in to see how Shelby was doing, with school, and if she wanted to come over that weekend. She also mentioned about her and Roger were thinking of taking a trip to the closest animal humane society on Saturday and said it would be best if Shelby came along since they needed to make sure to find a cat that would get along with all three of them, and that included Shelby.

Shelby agreed to give going over to her mom's house another try and let them know Rachel would pick Shelby up from practice, Friday evening.

The next day, Rachel came by baseball practice, alone, since Roger had to drive down to New Jersey to meet with someone for work and wouldn't be back until late that evening. So, it would just be the girls for a few hours until then. Shelby called home at bedtime to fill Luke in how it was going so far, sharing how Rachel had saved the grocery shopping while Shelby was there, so she could pick out things she wanted during the weekend and even helped her mom cook Hamburger Helper for dinner, even though Shelby wasn't much of a fan of instant dinners such as Hamburger Helper. It was actually why she was one of the low one percent of kids who didn't like macaroni and cheese unless it was completely homemade. But, since Rachel wasn't as good a cook as Luke was, Shelby settled for the box stuff.

After dinner, the girls caught a new episode of Reba's show, together. Rachel had tried to get Shelby to come sit with her on the couch, but Shelby still continued to take the floor. So, she decided to come sit with Shelby, instead, asking if it was okay, first. Though, that week's episode may not have been the best episode for them to watch since Rachel and Shelby were going through rough waters in their relationship. It was about the youngest daughter being called out by her father for basically cutting her own mother out of her life, and it ended up bringing more guilt to Shelby.

The episode was heavy on her mind for the rest of the evening until she called Luke.

"Shell, you're not that girl," he tried to tell her. "You're not a teenager yet, wanting to go to an unsupervised party." Thank God for that. "Yes, you check in with us if you want to go anywhere, but if you're not comfortable sharing what's happening in your life, with your mom, that's okay. Eventually, we'll get to that point but until then, you gotta cut yourself some slack. Everyone's situation is different, so you don't need to compare yours with someone else, especially with a TV show that exaggerates for ratings."

Shelby was silent for a moment before she spoke. "Mom did say, she would never spy on me when Barbara Jean talked Reba into doing it."

"Well, that's good, at least," Luke replied, though he couldn't say much for himself, especially when Shelby starts dating. It wasn't like Luke wouldn't trust Shelby. It will be the boy he wouldn't trust.

Luke waited to see if Shelby would say anything next before he said, "hang in there, kiddo."

"Thanks, Dad."

Luke smiled. "You're welcome, kiddo. The rest of the evening go well?"

"Yeah. We watched this movie called, _Holes_ on one of the movie channels abou' this kid who go' sen' to camp because they though' he 'tole a pair of shoes, and had to dig a bunch of holes looking for treasure tha' ac'ually belonged to his family," Shelby told him, next.

"Sounds interesting," Luke commented, not really sure what else to say.

They eventually let the other go once Luke and Shelby were finished talking, which Luke said, he'd see her at her game. Other than the TV show, things seemed to have been going well, so far, but events could always change in an instant.

Luke had pulled up to the park just as Roger did. As soon as he saw Shelby get out, she was holding her backpack and duffel bag with her, bringing it over and asked if she could put them in the truck.

"Of course, kiddo, but what happened? I thought things were going well?" Noticing some hairs on top of her baseball cap, Luke carefully picked them off, tossing them off to the side. The hairs looked like animal hairs and assumed it was from Rachel's new cat they had planned on picking out that day.

Shelby looked off to the side, not saying anything.

"Go on, Shelby," Rachel urged firmly when she joined them. "Tell your dad about what you told me." Her arms were folded in front of her.

Looking between the two, Luke decided to pull Shelby away for some privacy, heading over to the truck to unlock the door on the driver's side. Once Shelby tossed both her duffel bag and backpack inside the truck, onto the seat, he asked, "what happened, kiddo?" again, remaining calm but firm.

"After we go' back from bringing home Oscar and Shadow, we were watching them ge' to know their new home when I remembered wha' Jess told me and I though' I should tell Mom." Shelby's eyes searched around at the ground, occasionally glancing up at to meet her dad's gaze. When she abruptly paused and chewed on her lip, Luke pulled her in, wrapping an arm around her. "I-I-I...told her exac'ly wha' Jess said to do."

"Which was?" he asked.

Shelby hesitated some more which Luke rubbed a hand along her opposite arm. "I…" She then just decided to blurt it all out at once. "I told her to shu' her trap and le's jus' move on because we weren' gonna agree, and we could be focusing on other things."

Luke stared at his little buddy at once. His eyebrows were at the peak they could go.

"I said I was sorry when Mom said I shouldn' talk to her like tha' bu' I told her tha's how I feel and wasn' sorry abou' tha."

"Well, that' good because you shouldn't have to apologize for your feelings," he managed to say. "And, I am glad to hear you apologized for talking to your mom like that, but how come you wanna come home, early?"

Shelby hesitated some more, her eyes moving around at the blacktop. "I...asked if Mom was going to mee' with Lauren, nex'," she admitted.

"And?"

She slowly shook her head. "Mom doesn' see wha's talking abou' her pas' has to do with ours and told me to 'top worrying abou' wha' she's doing."

Luke ended up letting out a sigh through his nose. _Come on, Rachel! If I can do it, so can you!_

"I tried to poin' ou' you did it, bu' Mom told me to drop it. So, I wen' to see wha' Roger was doing and we watched college foo'ball until it was time to come here."

Squeezing her to his side, Luke told her, "I'm sorry, kiddo."

"I's okay, Dad," Shelby tried to assure him.

"No, it's not. Your mom…" Luke stopped himself and just shook his head. "I swear, kiddo. You deserve better than this." With the game starting soon and Shelby needing to warm up with her teammates, he put this on hold for now and started making their way over to the field where the Badgers were playing the Hornets.

During the game, Luke kept glancing over at Rachel, who was watching the game.

This time, Roger had left his camera at home, wanting to just watch the game this time. Surprisingly, Luke didn't even care about that, or the fact he was here. All Luke cared about was the fact, Rachel couldn't set aside her pride and just meet with Lauren. If he could do it, surely Rachel could, too. After all, this was for their daughter.

This time, Shelby's coach had her playing center field, having been rotating the young players so they could try every position at least once. Though, Shelby had ended up liking shortstop.

She did missed a couple of plays which Luke could guess her mind wasn't completely in the game, and her coaches had to keep reminding her to stay focused, including when she was up to bat. Not once was Shelby able to get a hit and struck out each time. Thankfully, the rest of the team picked up the slack and the Badgers still managed to gain a win.

On the way home, Luke tried asking if she was okay, despite already knowing the answer.

Shelby assured she was, though.

Even though he hated cats, Luke still tried asking about them to change the subject. "So, Oscar and Shadow, huh?"

"Tha's wha' they were named by their old owners who couldn' keep them anymore. Since they were close like brothers, they had to go to the same home," she explained. "Shadow is all black and Oscar is whi'e with brown and black markings on his back and on his face. Mom says, they're gonna be house ca's and no' allowed ou'side, excep' for the closed in pai'o."

"Just, try not to bring home any cat hair," he told her, already realizing Shelby was going to be bringing home the scent of cats.

Shelby managed a snicker. "Oscar was trying to hide in my duffel bag when I was packing. He already likes me and Shadow already likes Roger."

"They don't like your mom?" asked Luke. Wow, not even animals liked Rachel? _Geez._

"They do, bu' Roger and I are already their favorites."

He nodded towards the road.

"I was playing with Oscar when Mom came up and asked if I was ready. He likes this 'tick thing we go' him tha' has feathers on the end." Pretty much the rest of the drive home was mostly about the cats as Shelby brought Luke up with every funny thing the cats have done so far.

The next morning, Shelby left for church, returning long enough to ask if she could go over to Ethan and Alan's house, even though Ethan was staying to help in the diner. The kid was almost to his goal in his earnings and wanted to work as much as he could. Shelby ended up admitting she wanted to talk to Cheryl about something but did not say what. Not yet anyway.

Shelby was gone for a few hours before she returned later, late afternoon.

Luke asked how talking to Cheryl went, but didn't get much as Shelby wasn't ready to talk about it. In fact, it wasn't until the drive to Providence did she finally say something, reminding him how he had given her a head's up when Luke had planned on bringing up Rachel's issue with Jess, letting him know she wanted to do the same.

When Shelby explained how she had planned on letting Rachel know, she was setting boundaries with her and if her mom didn't want to do whatever it took to help fix their relationship, then Shelby would tell her, they couldn't see each other. Luke was really impressed by the kid's sudden ultimatum.

"Are you sure, kiddo?" he asked her.

Briefly hesitating, Shelby nodded her head while staring at her Totodile toy she was holding in her hands. "I don' wan' to, bu' i's no' fair tha' you and I are making an effor' and Mom's doing 'qua'." It took a moment for Luke to figure out Shelby was saying, squat. "I heard Reba say it one time on her show."

"I take it, this is what you and Cheryl talked about, the other day," he guessed.

She nodded, still staring at the toy.

"Well, kiddo, if this is the way you think we should handle this, I will back you up all the way on this."

"Cheryl said almos' the same thing Lor-lai said when we had that meeting in our apar'men', tha' if this is the speed bump keeping us from making our relation'hip, be'ter, Mom should be willing to do wha'ever it takes to ge' over it."

Luke nodded. "That's very true, kiddo." It was impressive Shelby was willing to set boundaries with Rachel, but he also knew this was also going to be hard for the kid to stick to.

This time, he and Shelby had arrived before Rachel did.

Shelby managed some small talk and asked how the cats were doing. Oscar misses her already, by meowing outside Shelby's door. Rachel and Roger try to distract him whenever he does it, and it works for a while. Shelby waited until they were inside Lauren's office to give her ultimatum, shyly raising her hand to speak while Lauren was getting started, having mentioned how well Luke's session had gone and was telling Rachel, she hoped Rachel was willing because of it.

"Yes, Shelby?" Lauren asked, in a kind and gentle voice.

Shelby was holding Totodile in her hands, staring at it like she had done in the truck, on the way there. She managed to steal a look over at her dad, who gently urged her with some encouragement.

"I…" Her chest was starting to heave as if she had been running a mile.

"Take your time, sweetheart," Lauren assured her not to rush.

It took a few minutes before Shelby was able to get the words out. "Mom, I respec' your opinion even though I wish you would lis'en to us abou' Jess...be...ing, uh, good person." She managed to shrug her shoulders as Luke noticed her body looked as if it was shaking with anxiety.

He reached over to rub a comforting hand on her arm.

She was trying to look up at Rachel, but her gaze only kept dropping towards Totodile. "Jess is like 'titch. Sometimes, he messes up bu' he's 'till good. Bu', he's also wha' Lilo says. Ohana, which means family."

Tears were starting to appear in her eyes. "Bu' you can believe wha' you wan', like I said at your house and I will try to accep' tha'. Bu' if you won'..." Shelby had to pause to take a few deep breaths. Her voice cracked as she managed to continue. "Bu' if you won' mee' with Lauren like Dad and I did…"

Shelby had to take a few more breaths.

Before she could continue, Rachel spoke first. "Peanut, we talked about this. I'm glad we agreed to disagree about Jess, but you need to understand that I have reasons that I don't think sharing about my personal life needs to be discussed here. Can you please accept that?"

Shelby was just about hyperventilating at this point. "Then we can't hang out together anymore!" she suddenly blurted out.

Rachel's head jerked back in surprise by the outburst. Luke caught her swallow before she managed to say, "Shelby, that's not fair."

"Actually, Rachel," Lauren spoke up, "it is." She was looking over at her which Rachel looked at her just as surprised.

"What?"

"Shelby is giving you a reasonable and fair deal. If you're not willing to put forth the effort, what does that show for your relationship with your daughter?"

Rachel looked between Lauren and Shelby. "I am willing to put in effort for Shelby, I just don't see how _my_ ," she touched a hand to her chest, "personal life needs to fit into that."

Lauren shrugged. "Our relationships can affect other relationships, even when we don't mean for them to, and I think your relationship with your parents is what is keeping you from having a good relationship with Shelby."

Rachel's head immediately turned in the direction where Luke was sitting. "So, you were talking about me?" Before Luke could respond, she turned back to Lauren. "I thought you're supposed to talk about yourself?"

"About yourself, about your feelings towards each other," Lauren explained. "I had asked how you and Luke met and he shared a little about your childhood together."

Luke was quick to point out, "I wasn't sharing anything to talk down on you, Rachel. It was only to explain how we got close and eventually developed into something more than just a friendship."

"No one was attacking you, I promise," Lauren also assured her. "Luke was very respectful about sharing with me, and I'd like if I can hear your side and talk a little bit more about your side of the family."

Rachel suddenly snapped. "There's nothing to talk about. It's in the past and I'd like to keep it that way. So, what if my parents didn't accept me for the person I was. They are who they are, and like Shelby said, I accept their opinions. Can we just focus on what's more important, here? Please?"

Lauren shared a concerned look with Luke before turning back to Rachel. "We can try, Rachel, but as I told Luke, we can promise ourselves we're not going to do what our parents did, but sometimes, we unintentionally end up being exactly the same." She then shared with her the fast food example Lauren had shared with Luke. "From what I've heard so far, I believe the lack of control you had with your parents is playing a part in your relationship with your own daughter."

"I am not trying to control Shelby," Rachel argued as if she was offended.

Luke shrugged. "What about not wanting Shelby around Jess? Or, not letting her have her feet on the furniture?"

"I didn't think it was safe for your nephew to be around Shelby," she reminded him. "And, as for the couch, feet get dirty and collect dirt and odors. They don't need to be up where we sit. Besides, I agreed to removing our shoes at the door, didn't I?"

"The point is, Rachel, not dealing with these feelings you have with your parents could be, and is a problem, in your other relationships. It can even affect your marriage."

"It doesn't," Rachel continued to say in an offended tone.

Lauren looked at her. "Wasn't it you that said, Shelby wasn't the only one who's case you got on about things?" she reminded her.

"Yes, but…"

"I promise no one's attacking you. Luke and I discussed some stuff from his past, and so did Shelby. These things should be addressed so hopefully the three of you can have a better relationship for the future. Maybe, if possible, we can have your parents join us for a session."

Rachel was quiet as she looked at Lauren. Finally, she said, "Well then, I guess I won't have a better relationship with my daughter."

Turning towards, Shelby, Rachel told her in a heartfelt tone, "I'm sorry, Peanut." That said, she got up from her seat and hurried from the room.

Lauren tried calling after her, but Rachel opened the door and did not look back, letting it shut behind her. Telling them, she'll be right back, Lauren went after Rachel.

Once Lauren left them alone, Luke finally asked Shelby, "You okay?"

Shelby didn't answer. She kept staring at her toy.

"It's not your fault, kiddo," he reminded her, leaning forward on his folded arms. "You did the right thing."

Her hands wrapped around the blue and tan crocodile-like creature.

Luke wrapped a hand around the back of her head, over her hat, and held a kiss to the side of it. "I know it doesn't seem like it and it hurts like hell, but I can promise you, you did make the right choice. Your mom needed to know how important this is to you."

At that, Shelby finally broke down. That's when Luke invited her in, letting Shelby fall onto him and hold onto him as he held onto her. It broke his heart knowing how brokenhearted Shelby was and hoped Rachel would come to her senses and agree to her daughter's terms.

To their relief, the door opened, several minutes later, to see Rachel with Lauren.

Rachel went to kneel at Luke's side, looking up at Shelby who was holding her head on Luke's shoulder.

"I really am sorry, Peanut," she told Shelby, even more sincere than before. "About everything. About Jess, and about not being willing to talk about my past." Rachel took in a deep breath, letting it out with her eyes shut. She opened them to look back up at Shelby. "I have my doubts about your grandfather ever coming to his own senses but if it helps us get closer, I'm willing to try."

Luke rubbed a comforting hand along her back as Shelby was sitting on his left leg.

"Promise," he heard Shelby utter, softly.

"I promise." Rachel lifted a hand to her upper back where Luke wasn't rubbing. "I don't want us being the way your grandfather and I have been my whole life. It would kill me."

There was a brief pause before Shelby admitted, "I don' wan' you to die."

Rachel moved her hand to cup her right cheek but Shelby's head was blocking Luke's view to see her, completely.

After that, Shelby pushed up from her dad to drop against her mom and wrapped her arms around her in a hug.

So, when they scheduled the next session, in two weeks, Rachel scheduled a private session to meet with Lauren, one on one, and hopefully at the next session, they could discuss having Rachel's parents join a session in the future.

Shelby looked nervous to have her grandfather there, but agreed to the possibility.

Out in the parking lot, Shelby willingly gave one last hug as they said good-bye.

As Luke drove back to Stars Hollow, a glimmer of hope could be felt, they might be making even more progress.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **For the new readers that recently started reading, I feel I should point out that this story is from Luke's point of view but in third person. I have been noticing new readers and hope everyone has read the first part of this story which I did note in chapter one of this one, to do so. So, the reader hoping to see Rachel's session, I'm very sorry.**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Other than some progress being made during the week's session following a heartbreaking ultimatum, unfortunately more was added to their plate that evening when Luke came across tickets to a Yankees game he had purchased months ago he had planned for him and Shelby to go with Nicole since they were her favorite team, were found.

It was a hard reminder knowing that he had bought the tickets for nothing especially when Shelby had been looking forward to seeing a game with not only her dad but Nicole, as well. The kid had been so excited upon finding out Nicole had been a baseball fan which was all the more he thought it would be nice if the three of them went to a game, together.

Luke sat there at his desk, staring at the tickets in his hands. He really did enjoy spending time with Nicole and it was nice she allowed him to be himself around her, and the two did get along so well. Nicole loving and getting along with his little buddy was also a super big plus in his book, and was relieved to know she didn't even mind whenever Luke felt inclined to tell a story about Shelby. A whole lot better than whenever he had shared a story or two about Lorelai, that first date, anyway.

Shelby had come out of the bathroom, freshly showered and in her pajamas while Luke was still sitting there. "Wha's wrong, Dad?" he heard her ask, coming over to stand beside him.

He let out an exasperated sigh. "I found these tickets I bought for us to take Nicole to a game," he replied. Out of the corner of his eye, Luke noticed Shelby frown. Looking up at her, he added, "we can still go if you want, kiddo. Maybe you can invite Alan or someone."

Shelby was staring towards the tickets in his hand, remaining silent that time.

Holding an arm out, Luke invited her in and let Shelby sit on his right leg as he rubbed a comforting hand along her right arm over her long sleeve. Luke knew Shelby had been looking forward to this the most. This was why he had set a rule such as this and did not make long term plans, ever.

He held a gentle kiss to the side of her head.

"Alan's brother, Derek and their dad also likes baseball," she said out of nowhere.

"Well, we only have one extra ticket, though," he pointed out.

"I know. I mean we can let them go instead," she said, sadly while holding her head against him.

Luke looked at her in surprise. "You don't want to go anymore?"

Shelby shook her head, not lifting her head.

Giving her a firm but gentle squeeze, Luke held another kiss to her head. If it was too painful for her to even go to the game then this must have meant a lot more than he had thought.

"When I wen' to her house, I asked if she would ever come to one of my games when I… _sss_ -tarted baseball again and she promised she would." Shelby was staring elsewhere at this point.

Luke continued rubbing her arm. After a moment, he told her, "I'm sorry, kiddo."

Another minute went by before she pointed out, "At leas' Mom is around to see me play." He could tell Shelby was trying to remain positive. "And, even Lor-lai came even though she's no' a baseball fan."

He smiled. "And, don't forget, I'm there."

Shelby nodded.

Luke gave her another squeeze.

So, the final decision was made. The next day at school, Shelby asked Alan if he, Derek, and their dad would want to go see the Yankees play at Yankee Stadium. Alan was very excited to actually get to go see a game in person, and when he told his dad and older brother, they were also excited to go. Ethan being more into video games than sports did not see what the big deal was, though.

Ron and the boys stopped by on Friday to pick up the tickets on their way. While Shelby was a little more nicer in her disappointment, Luke showed his disappointment by barking at people a lot more than usual. Of course it was Lorelai who eventually pointed him out on it. Though, not before Alan told him, he should really watch his blood pressure.

"What do you know about having high blood pressure?" he questioned of the eight-year-old boy.

"I know you probably have it," Alan told him, earning him a hard, annoyed look in which Luke told them to just go and enjoy the game.

Turning to leave, the boys and their dad thanked him and Shelby for the second time before heading towards the door with the tickets in hand. When they were gone, Shelby turned back to lay her head on her folded arms where she was sitting at the counter with Lorelai.

"What is wrong with you two?" Lorelai asked of the two of them.

"Nothing," Luke denied, not too thrilled with her at the moment with having to take a dozen phone calls for Lorelai all day as if she had printed out business cards or something, having missed a phone call from his meat guy because he was discussing a horse's deviated septum with some lady.

"You almost got into a fight with an eight-year-old," she pointed out, "and Shelby's been moping around."

"We're just having a bad day," he told her while clearing a nearby table.

She made a buzzing noise with her mouth.

Luke suddenly looked up at her in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"Day-zzz. You've been stomping around here, barking at people for days, and Shelby, you've been looking like your dog died," the woman looked between the two of them.

"I have not been barking at people," he continued to deny.

Lorelai wouldn't let him deny the fact, though. "Yes, Cujo, you have."

Wiping down the table with a plate in one hand, he stood up to head back over there. "I always talk to people like that," he tried to insist, this time.

She shook her head at him as she told him, "No, Benji, you don't."

Tossing the rag over on the counter and setting the plate down, Luke sat on the stool on the other side of Shelby, leaning his left arm near the edge, and rubbed a comforting hand along her back. "We'll be fine tomorrow."

"Really, Lassie? Why is that?" Lorelai mockingly continued with the dog names.

Stealing a look with one another first, Shelby was the one to answer.

"We were supposed to go to the game with Nicole, tonigh'." The way the kid spoke seemed to break Lorelai's heart as her confused expression turned to a sympathetic one.

"Oh, hun," she told her.

Luke pulled Shelby in to give her a loving squeeze before he resumed rubbing her back as he explained it to Lorelai. "I bought these tickets for Nicole because she's a Yankees fan. I thought it would be nice if the three of us went to a game, together, and Shelby was really looking forward to it back then."

"Oh, man."

So, when I found them and reminded Shelby about it, I realized what a loser I was for thinking I'd still be in a relationship." Luke looked away, letting go of Shelby to wave it towards Lorelai, looking away. "I don't know, it's stupid." He turned back to add, "I broke my own rule. I asked for it, and should have realized it would affect Shelby a lot more." Apologizing to Shelby, giving her another kiss, Luke stood up and went around to the other side of the counter.

Lorelai maneuvered around to face him. "What are you talking about?" she questioned, confused again.

"Never plan for anything more than two days in advance," he said with a pen now in his hand.

"That's your rule?"

He looked up at her. "Yes," he stated. "'Cause, when you make plans, you have expectations, and when you have expectations, then you will get disappointed."

"Having expectations also gives you something to look forward to," Lorelai tried to say with optimism.

"Yes, and then you're looking forward to being constantly disappointed," Luke continued to argue, stubbornly.

Lorelai shook her head at him. "You're not that cynical."

"I am today," he said, barely glancing up at her from writing out the week's order form.

"Hey, I have an idea," she said. "Tomorrow night is usually movie night."

Luke glanced up again to ask, "What?"

"Rory and I would usually rent a bunch of movies, order food. It was our thing," she explained. "Now, she's at school," Lorelai paused to sigh, "and busy, so… Why don't you come over? You and Shelby. It might be fun."

Luke looked up at her. "It'll have to wait until after Shelby's game, but okay." He turned to ask Shelby, "you up for it, Shell?" That was a silly question. The kid never turned down a chance to go over to Lorelai's house.

Shelby perked up at the invitation but not as the adults would expect. "Um, I can'," she suddenly shook her head, signalling she was saying, can't and not can.

"What do you mean? You're home this weekend," he reminded her.

"Uh, no. I forgo' to tell you, I asked Mom if I could come over again this weekend."

Luke jerked back in surprise, not expecting Shelby to want to spend two weekends in a row at her mom's house, considering what happened last weekend. Sure, Rachel and Shelby had been talking a little better over the phone, the last few days but Luke didn't think she would be ready to spend another weekend so soon after the first.

Lorelai, on the other hand, was excited for the little girl. "That's wonderful, Shelby. So, you and your mom are getting along better now?"

"A li'tle," she admitted. "She agreed to mee' with Lauren by herself."

"That's so great," Lorelai continued to show her support. "So, I guess things are finally starting to look up for you both, then, huh?"

"If you're going to your mom's, then shouldn't she have been here by now?" Luke questioned, glancing at his watch.

"Oh, uh, I be'ter go call her to ask." With that said, Shelby suddenly jumped down from her stool and dashed around the counter to head upstairs. There was something really suspicious about his little buddy.

Lorelai brought him back from out of his perplexed thoughts. "That is really great progress that is being made," she said.

"Uh, yeah. It really is great." Luke kept glancing back behind him where Shelby had disappeared off to. "So, what time?" he asked when he finally turned back to his paperwork.

After setting the time for Luke to come over, Lorelai told him, she would stop by the video store to pick up a couple movies. It was then realized that Luke had not seen anything recently, other than a kid's movie, the last one being _Mr and Mrs Bridge_ while he and Rachel were still dating. Not even the movie, _Diner_ when Lorelai sounded desperate. Stating they had work to do, Lorelai reminded him to be at her house at eight o'clock before leaving. Though, before leaving, she quickly mentioned about a package arriving there to have Luke bring it with him when Luke comes over.

Luke just shook his head as he turned back to finish filling out his shipment order.

Ten minutes later, the phone rang while he was making another batch of coffee.

Answering it, Luke put the phone between his ear and shoulder while he continued scooping coffee grounds. "Luke's."

"Hey, it's Rachel."

"Hey, so Shelby's going over to your house this weekend?" he asked. "Shelby just told me a bit ago, last minute."

"Yeah, she just called me a bit ago, too, asking to come over. Not that I'm against it. I'm always glad to have her over. I'm just really surprised."

Luke stared ahead at nothing in particular. "Just now? I thought you both made this plan some time ago? That's what she told me when Lorelai invited us over for a movie night."

"Nope, she just asked me now if she could come over," Rachel said. "Wait, so Shelby turned down to go to Lorelai's to come over here with me?" That was quite a surprise to both of them. But then it clicked on for Rachel first. "Wait, you said Lorelai invited you over for a movie night?"

"Yeah," he replied and explained about finding the tickets and Shelby being upset more than he was, which led to Lorelai inviting them over since Rory was away at college.

"Luke, you do see what Shelby is trying to do, right?" she asked of him.

"What are you talking about?" he denied. "Maybe she just wants to spend more time with you." Luke heard Rachel snicker at his denial. "What?"

"Luke, you are not that clueless," Rachel insisted of him.

"I literally have no idea what you are talking about." Luke dropped the small scoop inside the coffee can and shoved the filter inside it's place.

"Whatever you say, Luke." Thankfully, she changed the subject. In the back of his mind, though, Luke had a guess as to what she was referring to. After all, it was clear what Shelby was doing. But, that would mean for him to accept it. "Anyway, Roger and I had plans to go camping this weekend at this campground our work wanted us to do an article on. Luckily, the campground's also family-friendly and Roger feels letting Shelby come along and give a child's perspective would be good. However, in order for me to not have to shoot around her, I would need the consent of her legal guardian," she paused to let out a small sigh, "which is you."

Luke understood admitted something such as Rachel legally not being one of Shelby's legal guardians was still hard on her. But, he did not understand why she needed his consent.

He asked, "Consent for what?"

"Whenever we take a camping or hiking trip for work, I usually include a photo or two of Roger to add more for the article. You know, give the readers more of an insight to the experience. Include people as one of the subjects."

"So, these photos will go in a magazine?"

"It's an outdoors magazine that shows the best camping and hiking spots around the state of Connecticut," she explained. "A lot of families read it. But, if you don't feel comfortable having Shelby be shown in it, it's perfectly okay. I can shoot around her. Or, I can shoot behind her and not even show her face, if you want. I can take some really great photos from behind if I have to."

"That actually makes me feel a little bit better, actually," he admitted, leaning a hand on the back counter, behind him now that he was facing the other way.

"That's fine, I can do that," she reassured him. "I will print off a copy of the consent form and bring it with me when I pick her up."

"Wait." Luke suddenly remembered. "Shelby has a game, tomorrow night."

"Yeah, I figured that. I thought it was cleared with you to miss it."

He stood there, staring at nothing. Luke didn't like the idea of Shelby not being there for her team, but he guessed it couldn't hurt to miss one game. In the end, Luke did give the approval to miss the game on one condition. Shelby at least had to go to practice that evening so she could let her coach know she won't be at the game since they weren't leaving for the trip until early the next morning.

After finishing the call, Luke told Caesar he was heading upstairs where he found Shelby packing for the trip.

Clearing his throat, Luke walked over to stand at the foot of the bunk bed, holding his hands on his sides.

Shelby looked up at her dad. By the look on her face, the kid knew she had been found out.

He then folded his arms across his chest. "What's this all about?" he asked of her, firmly. "Why did you lie about asking to go to your mom's?"

Shelby was sitting on Jess' bunk, folding her clothes inside her duffel bag. She stared towards it, not answering her dad.

"Shelby," he told her in a firm tone.

He saw her shoulders shrug. "I don' know. I though' maybe you and Lor-lai could spend some time toge'her, alone. You know, since you and Nicole aren' toge'her, anymore."

Luke softened at his little buddy's confession, letting out a small breath of air. Sitting on the bunk across from her, he told her, "Shell, this is just a movie with friends. I'm sure Lorelai wasn't intending it to be a date, otherwise she wouldn't have extended the invitation to you."

"I know, bu' if it was jus' the two of you, maybe something could happen." She gave him a hopeful look.

He leaned forward a little. "Nothing's gonna happen, kiddo. We're just gonna watch a movie and eat take out. That's all," Luke said as he sliced a hand through the air.

Her shoulders slumped as she too let out a breath but through her nose. "Yeah, maybe you're righ'. I mean, the rules say you can' move during the movie, no' even to use the bathroom."

"I highly doubt Lorelai's not going to let me use the bathroom."

"Well, you can, but you will miss a part of the movie because if you do, she won' pause it for you, and you can' talk during the movie unless you're repeating along with it. Bu' if you're watching a 'classic'," Shelby did air quotes with her fingers, "then, there is no talking a' all and then the movie ge's rewinded, and she'll even watch you watch the movie a' cer-ten par's."

"I think you are exaggerating," Luke told her.

She shook her head once. "Nope. I wish I was, bu' I'm no'."

"You're exaggerating to try and ignore the fact you lied about asking your mom," he insisted, leaning forward again. "Shell, weekends at your mom has to be planned by Thursday night. Your mom already had weekend plans. I mean, it was great she was willing to let you come along but you can't throw this on us at short notice. Okay?"

Shelby looked away, ashamed. "I'm sorry, Dad. I was jus' trying to help you and Lor-lai."

"I know you like watching out for me, kiddo, and that's great. But, you don't need to take care of me," he assured her. "It's my job to take care of you. Okay?"

Shelby stared back at him with a heartbreaking look. "Bu', I jus' wan' you to be happy."

"I know you do. That's one of many things I love about ya, but it's okay. Really," he insisted firmly but still kept it gentle. "Lorelai and I are just going to be two people watching movies and eating food as friends, that's all. Okay?"

"Okay," she finally gave in, sounding and looking defeated.

"Now, your mom and I realize you will be missing your game, this weekend. I told her, you still have to go to practice, tonight and I want you," he pointed a finger at her, firmly, "to let him know you won't be there, and there won't be any TV or video games, starting now until next Friday for lying to me. Got it?"

Shelby slowly nodded.

"I really am sorry, Dad," she repeated, sincerely.

"I know you are, but there are still consequences."

"Okay," she said again, but didn't look happy about losing her video games for a week. Getting up from the bed, Shelby grabbed her book she was reading currently on her own, to pack it inside her backpack she had lying on the bed beside her. A glimpse of a mouse riding a motorcycle on the front cover was seen.

Luke left her alone to finish packing.

An hour later, Rachel arrived to pick Shelby up. Heading back upstairs, he let her know her mom was there while Shelby was saying good-bye to Gexie. Putting the little gecko back inside her tank, Shelby went to wash her hands in the bathroom.

On the way downstairs, the two ended up in a fifty dollar bet when Luke continued to tell Shelby she was exaggerating on the rules for movie night. It actually made Rachel laugh at the two, who overheard while they were coming downstairs.

Giving her dad, a hug and kiss, good-bye, after Luke filled Rachel in on everything, including her being grounded, and signed the form, the girls headed out to where Rachel had parked.

Watching them, it did make Luke see how much Shelby was willing to bring him and Lorelai closer together than just friends. Even if that meant choosing to go to her mom's over going to Lorelai's house, whom the kid loved a lot. Of course, this was just a simple movie night between friends. He knew that. She did invite Shelby to come along, as well. But now, it would just be the two of them. No one else. If Luke didn't know any better, he swore he was actually looking forward to this, while still being nervous.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **If you haven't seen my author's note from my Jess story, I recently got a new full time job and won't be able to update as frequently as I used to. I will still try and update on the weekends, though.**


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Luke called later that evening before calling it a night to say good night to Shelby and to see how everything went, making sure she talked to her coach like he had insisted. It wasn't easy but Shelby did work up the courage to walk over after practice and let her coach know she wouldn't be at the game. The coach was disappointed to hear Shelby wouldn't be there but told her, he hoped her weekend goes well and that he would see her at practice the following week.

Other than that, the rest of Shelby's Friday night went well. She was glad to see the cats and Oscar was especially happy to see the kid. Luke curiously asked who was watching the cats if they were going camping that weekend. Shelby explained a friend of her mom and Roger's was staying in the guest room.

"Wait, are they there, now?" he asked, not sure how he felt about somebody he didn't know staying there while Shelby was there.

"Yeah," she replied. "She seems nice. I me' her once when Mom 'till lived in the apar'men'."

Luke felt himself blow a sigh of relief under his breath that the friend was at least female and that Shelby had already previously met her.

Shelby also told him, Roger had given her a new toy he found while in New York that was really cool and made by the same company as her Legos, but was called Bionicle. He had tried to help her put it together but Shelby had figured it out on her own and had been playing with it ever since.

Since Rachel and Roger were planning on leaving early, Shelby had to let her dad, go, so they could get to bed. Though, before they hung up, she reminded him of their bet, sounding fully confident she would win. It was rare when Shelby felt this confident so Luke was a little worried she was probably right, after all.

At the end of the day, Saturday, Luke closed a little bit early so he could get to Lorelai's by eight, making sure to bring plenty of food, including one cheeseburger with cheese and one without since he wasn't sure which one Lorelai would want as it sometimes changes. Even though he had let her know he would be bringing food ahead of time, Luke was surprised to find she had ordered Chinese, as well. Even though he should know better, Luke tried to point out she should have ordered it, fresh the next day when Lorelai said she would eat the Chinese food throughout the week, preferring it that way.

"I give up," he muttered when she returned with a cold beer for each of them and sat on the couch.

Lorelai grabbed the remote as she exhaled. "You are one click away from _Casablanca_."

"Start it up," Luke insisted, taking the food containers out of the bags he brought them in.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," she told him. "We need to get situated. Are you all situated?"

Luke looked at her, remembering that had been one of rules Shelby had mentioned. Okay, so that was correct. Surely the rest won't be. Right?

He informed Lorelai that he was situated just fine.

"No, you need to squish around a little," she insisted that time.

"I don't need to."

"Now, come on. Squish around a little." Lorelai began bouncing around in her seat, swinging her arms.

"I'm fine how I am," he continued to insist, as well.

"Okay," Lorelai gave in, seeming somewhat annoyed, "but you, uh, you can't squish around during the movie because it's distracting. That's rule number one." She held up one finger in front of her face as she stared at him.

Luke stared back at her. "There really are rules?" So, Shelby really wasn't exaggerating?

"Oh, yeah, especially for a true classic like _Casablanca_. It's not like we're watching a there's-nothing-else-on movie or a guilty pleasure movie like _Hardbodies_." Lorelai suddenly gasped happily. "Oh my God. Have you seen _Hardbodies_?"

He briefly glanced away with his eyes before slightly shaking his head. "I don't think so."

"Three middle aged guys rent a beach house and they hire this young local stud to introduce them to cute girls, a.k.a. Hardbodies."

Luke took a drink of his beer before setting it back down on the coffee table as he nodded. "Let's see that."

"No, Luke. We're seeing _Casablanca_ ," Lorelai reminded him.

"Then let's see that," he pointed towards the TV.

"Okay, the rest of the rules, no talking during the movie. No exceptions during a true classic. And minimize distraction, you know, no shifting around a lot, no phone calls, nothing."

Luke was now shaking his head at the realization he was now owing his eight-year-old, fifty bucks.

"No going to the bathroom," Lorelai suddenly added which quickly got a confused look from Luke. He had at least been hoping that wouldn't be a real rule. "If you go, you miss the movie 'cause we're not pausing the movie. That's the only way to get the flow of the thing, okay?"

Luke just threw up his hand of the matter. "Fair enough," he reluctantly agreed.

"Okay." Lorelai inhaled some more in excitement. "Here we go." Pointing the remote at the TV, she started the movie where the FBI warning appeared.

He had seen the thing a few times watching movies with Shelby, but since she was a kid and didn't know either, Luke had no one to ask who knew, so seeing it again with another adult prompted him to ask, "what's that?"

Lorelai quickly paused the movie to remind him of the "no talking" rule before she asked, "don't tell me you've never seen the FBI warning before."

"I've seen it at the beginning of those kid movies of Shelby's, but other than that, it's new to me."

Lorelai slowly held a hand up to her mouth. "Oh my God. You're beyond monk. You're ubermonk."

"Just start it up. I won't talk again," he told her, even more annoyed.

"Okay, just one more warning," she said, "when they showed the first motion picture over a hundred years ago it featured a train rushing towards the camera and people were so sure the train was going to burst off the screen and crush them that they ran away in terror."

Luke took a deep breath, blowing it back out trying to remain calm, knowing what she was doing.

She reached out to place both hands on his right shoulder. "Now, Luke, the train is not going to leave the screen."

He then turned back to tell her, "Hit the button."

"Okay." Lorelai quickly played the movie once again.

The movie began showing the title of the movie, playing that old, timey movie music. The movie was also in black and white instead of color. Things started out alright as they ate their food, but after awhile Luke began to notice Lorelai was watching him watch the movie. After catching her a few times, he told her to stop, stating it was creepy. Apparently, she enjoys watching others watch certain parts of movies to see their reaction, but Lorelai always seemed to do it when something big was coming up, like when Humphrey Bogart saw Ingrid Bergman for the first time.

Because they had been talking, Lorelai rewinded it back before they started talking. Just as she did, the phone rang. Despite the "no phone calls" rule, when Rory came on the answering machine, asking for her mom, Lorelai got up to answer. It turns out a date Rory was on, wasn't going so well. Lorelai wasn't even sure what to do herself other than tell her to bite the bullet, that sometimes dates don't go well. Afterwards, Lorelai returned to the couch.

"Oh, poor thing," she said, lowering herself back in her seat.

"Dating's the worst," said Luke.

"They're sitting on the same side of the table and that's awkward, and she can't think of what to say next and, you know, she's just got to go through it and figure it out on her own. You just have to throw them out there and let them know what those wings are for."

Luke stared at his lap, thinking of his own daughter. Soon, that'll be Shelby out there, on a date. Not that he wanted that time to come any time soon. Then an idea hit him. "She could say there's a draft."

Lorelai was shifting more into her seat. "What?"

"Where she's sitting. She could say the air conditioning is hitting her, switch to the other side, and blame it on that."

She gasped. "Oh, that's perfect." Lorelai then called Rory back and told her, Luke's advice, as well as asking about the guy's brother and sister's names, and to stay away from urine-related topics such as the urine mints. "Oh, good. I feel so much better," she said when she hung up. "She says thanks."

Luke nodded with a smile, happy to help. "I wouldn't trade places with her for the world."

"Really? You wouldn't want to go out with a boy named Trevor? Might want to wait to see his picture." she teased him.

"I mean dating. It's a horror."

Lorelai stared up towards the ceiling with her eyes. "It's the only cure for the singleness thing barring ordering a spouse off the internet."

"I missed nothing by not dating," he insisted.

"Not true," she tried to argue.

"If I had dated a lot, I'd still be single. I'd just spend a lot of bad nights at Tony Roma's when I could be spending them with my kid."

"But, dating is how you get to know your potential partner." Lorelai leaned her elbows on the back of the couch. "It's the only way."

Luke glanced back at the TV briefly before turning back to her. "There's the gut. I can tell if I'm comfortable with someone within seconds of meeting them. I feel it here," he pointed at his side. "I felt it with Rachel. I felt it with Nicole. I was immediately relaxed."

"You got a gut thing," she said.

"Well," he sighed, pulling out the remote to point it at the TV, "it's just knowing that someone will let you be. That's a gut thing."

Lorelai looked over at the TV just as he was fast-forwarding through the movie and immediately protested. Thinking they'll never get through the movie, Luke just wanted to get to the good parts which Lorelai stated there weren't any bad parts of _Casablanca_ before giving up to go grab dessert.

When Lorelai had disappeared into the kitchen, the phone had rang. Thinking it might've been Rory again, Luke got up to answer it. However, it wasn't Rory this time. It was Lorelai's mother, Emily Gilmore. After a quick argument, Luke insisted she take the phone before sitting back down on the couch, letting mother and daughter have their conversation while he continued watching the movie. When Lorelai returned to the couch once she hung up, she tried responding to what Rick was saying in the movie but Luke shushed her.

Eventually, they did make it through _Casablanca_ but Luke ended up falling asleep during _Hardbodies_ since it was late and passed his usual bedtime. The next thing he knew, Luke was waking up the next morning with a blanket draped over him. It took him a moment to remember where he was, remembering the movie night he had with Lorelai. This was surely strange, waking up in someone else's house, especially Lorelai's.

Since Lorelai would be sleeping a bit longer, Luke left to head back to the diner, to open, and thanked her for having him over when she stopped by for breakfast later that morning.

Rachel and Roger dropped Shelby off late that afternoon, who ended up having a good time.

"Mom and I got to talk while Roger was wri-ting something for his ar'icle," she said while sitting at the counter, having dinner when Luke asked how her weekend went.

"Yeah? What did you talk about?"

Shelby shrugged. "Jus' 'tuff. Mom says she's mee'ing with Lauren, tomorrow."

Luke perked up at that. "That's great."

"She also says, no ma'ter wha', I am always welcome over even if i's las' minu'e and no' jus' on the weekend. If I ever need to ge' away from the craziness of this town, I can call her and ask, as long as she's home. And as long as I don' lie," she added.

Luke gave her a knowing look but smiled.

"Sorry again, Dad," she told him, sincerely.

Reaching over, Luke rubbed a hand on top of her head. "I know you are, kiddo."

"Wha' abou' you? How was movie nigh'?" Shelby changed the subject, suddenly remembering why she had decided to go with her mom and stepfather.

"It was good," he replied. "We watched a couple of movies and ate burgers."

"Tha's it?" she questioned as if she was hoping for more.

"What do you mean, that's it? Yes, that's it. I told you that's all that would happen," he reminded her. It was probably best if Luke kept the part about him falling asleep and sleeping over there, from her, even though it was harmless. He didn't want Shelby reading too much into nothing.

Shelby frowned but asked, "You had fun, though?"

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun."

Her frown turned upside down. "Tha's good."

Since Shelby had spent the weekend with Rachel, she stayed home the following weekend with Luke. She spent most of her Saturday playing with Ethan and Alan, out in the wooded areas surrounding the town but asked her dad if they could have their own movie night at home, making up their own rules they thought were more sensible, like if someone did have to use the bathroom, it was considered intermission, like at the shows they went to in New York.

Aside from the session, the following week was also parent/teacher conferences. Since Rachel was around again, Luke figured he should probably let her know and invite her to the conference, bringing it up while they were waiting to meet with Lauren.

"If you wanted to come," Luke added when he asked.

"Of course I'd want to come," she replied and turned to look over at Shelby. "Is that alright with you, peanut? If I go with your dad to your parent/teacher conference?"

Shelby nodded.

Rachel turned back to Luke. "When is it?"

"Uh, hers is Thursday at 2:45. They have half days both Thursday and Friday," he also added.

Rachel seemed to perk up. "Half day? So, what time does she get out of school then?"

Luke glanced up at the ceiling briefly before he answered, "eleven-thirty."

Turning back to Shelby, she asked, "Since you're getting out of school, early on Friday, would you like me to pick you up sooner, Peanut? Maybe we can get lunch together."

"Sure," Shelby replied with a shrug.

"We can go anywhere you want to," Rachel offered while Shelby just gave another shrug.

"Okay."

Eventually, Lauren came out to greet them and they moved to her office where they began the session, starting with how everyone's week was going.

Rachel was the first one to speak. "Luke just informed me, it's parent-teacher conferences later this week and invited me to go."

"Oh." Lauren sounded impressed and pleased to hear Luke was keeping Rachel, up-to-date on events pertaining their daughter. "How does that make you feel?" she asked her.

Rachel was leaning on her forearms, holding her hands folded on the table. "Really glad. I pretty much missed all of second grade, and I heard it was her best year, so far." She looked across the table, happy for Shelby. Rachel then turned back to Lauren. "It'll be great hearing how third grade is going for her. From her teacher's perspective, I mean," she corrected herself. "Shelby's told me a few things."

Lauren turned to look over at Shelby. "How is school going, Shelby?"

Of course, Shelby just shrugged. "Good," she uttered, softly.

"Are you doing anything fun? Or, is there something specific you like about third grade?"

"We're reading _The Phantom Tollbooth_."

"Oh, what's _The Phantom Tollbooth_ about?" Lauren asked with interest.

Shelby timidly gave in her own words a synopsis about what the book was about, and how they were learning harder words than they had in second grade. Rachel commented on how _The Phantom Tollbooth_ sounded like a depressing book, but Shelby said she really liked it and what she was learning from it.

Shelby also mentioned how she was reading another chapter book on her own, called _The Mouse and the Motorcycle_ , about a mouse who liked to ride a human child's toy motorcycle.

"So, do you enjoy reading?" Lauren asked once Shelby was finished explaining about _The Mouse and the Motorcycle_.

She nodded. "I used to no' like reading because i' was hard a' firs', bu' then Jess _sss_ -tarted, " she made sure to be aware of including the S sound, "reading to me and then helped me read on my own. Now, I like reading."

"That's really good, Shelby," Lauren praised. "Sounds like Jess is an awesome cousin to have."

Luke noticed Shelby steal a brief look over at her mom before nodding. He looked over to see Rachel staring at her hands, not saying a word. It wasn't anger or annoyance. It seemed like she really was trying to agree to disagree and accept Shelby's close relationship with Jess despite her doubts and fears.

Checking in with how Luke was doing, who kept his answer, brief, Lauren changed the subject.

"Well, mine and Rachel's session went really well," she said, glancing over at Rachel, who gave a small smile. "A lot of things were shared and discussed. I'm glad I was able to have one on one time with each of you," Lauren looked between all three, "and learn a little more about you and your side of things. I'm hoping this can direct us to better help all of you to work together and grow closer in your relationships with each other, as well as having a stronger communication between you."

Lauren straightened her watch that had fallen towards the table. "One of the biggest things we discussed was having Rachel's parents join us for a session." She looked back over at her. "Were you able to talk to them and see if they were willing?"

"I actually went straight there after the session since I was already in town and they were home, to save me a trip," Rachel answered.

"And how did that go?"

"Well, just as I thought, neither one of them were willing. My mother feels this should be something to discuss as a family, because she feels what goes on in a family should remain within the family, and my father," Rachel paused to take in a breath and let it out towards the table. She lightly dropped her forehead in her right hand and began rubbing it.

Picking her head back up, she worked up the strength to finish. "He just went off and argued there was no need to sit in a room and discuss matters with some stranger when I should grow up and be the mother he thinks I should be with Shelby, whom he thinks is just being defiant and babied, and a few other choice words and phases I don't want to repeat in front of her."

Luke felt himself blow a breath of air through his nostrils, aggressively.

Lauren reluctantly shrugged. "Well, that's their choice not to come."

"I just feel awful Shelby's not getting to have a relationship with her grandparents like my niece and nephews have just because my father doesn't want to give her the time and patience she needs to get to know them," Rachel said, sadly. "Not to mention, every other time I talk to my mother, she asks if Shelby is pass the tomboy phase yet."

Luke spoke up, stating she asked him, a few times whenever Rebecca and her family came to visit Shelby.

"It can be hard for some to accept a person for who they are, especially when it's not what they believe. It shouldn't, but," Lauren briefly shrugged. "Again, that's their choice."

"Luke and I have talked about whether or not my parents can see Shelby or not, and we can at least agree as long as they can 'behave', but it's always my father who ends up failing and makes us not want to give him a chance next time."

"I'm just about ready to ban him for good," Luke couldn't help say.

"That is your right," she told both of them. "It's sad, but if your father," Lauren looked over at Rachel, "can't respect your wishes then you can say no to him seeing Shelby. That's not fair on Shelby's part, not being able to see her grandfather, but that's all you can do, I'm afraid."

"Well, at least my friend, Buddy has kind of stepped up to fill the grandpa shoes," Luke sighed while watching Shelby, who was picking at some loose skin around her nails. He then briefly explained who Buddy and Maisie were.

"That's good she can have a grandpa figure in her life, and it's great your friends can fill that role, not just in Rachel's father's place," she pointed a hand towards Rachel before switching it towards Luke, "but for your parents, as well. It's nice when a kid can have some kind of a grandparent relationship with someone."

"Shelby loves Maisie and Buddy." That statement made Luke smile big when he said it. "We see them at least once or twice a week, sometimes. We either have lunch or dinner at their restaurant."

"They always give me a free desser'," Shelby also said, proudly.

"I've never even been there, even while Luke and I were together," Rachel commented.

Luke wasn't even sure how to respond. Maisie and Buddy were family friends so it was easy to bring Shelby along, and even Jess, the few times he had been home from work and Shelby convinced him to come. It was a special place where he was around those that he's known for a really long time. They were practically extended family...no, they were family. After their mother passed away, and years later, their father, Maisie and Buddy pretty much took the reins and stepped in when Luke needed someone, especially when he decided to turn his father's store into a diner. Then, when Shelby entered his life, the two instantly took on the role of grandparents without ever being asked.

Plus, even before Shelby came along, it was just a place where Luke could go, alone, occasionally to get away from the chaos. He never even considered bringing anyone before his nephew and little buddy. It just wasn't the time yet. Or, possibly the one.

Lauren had to bring Luke back out of his thoughts when she tried to ask why he had never brought Rachel there. He just shrugged it off, stating the thought never occurred to him, even though he had been really excited the first time he took Shelby. Luke did admit he had also never taken Nicole to Sniffy's, either.

The topic was switched when Lauren told them about this week's activity. She had the family stand up and moved the table out of the way before explaining a mirroring activity, having Luke and Shelby face each other, first.

Letting Shelby go first, Lauren told her to make any kind of movements she wanted, whether silly or serious, and her dad would have to mirror what she does. Shelby started out simple, like touching her right, pointer finger to her nose, and doing that thing where a person rubs their stomach and pats their head.

She got tricky when Shelby tried to stand on her tip toes and pretended to be a ballerina.

"Shell, I can't do stuff like that," he informed her of his lack of imperfect balance despite Shelby not having good balance for it, either, considering she wasn't much a dancer. Though, Miss Patty had tried to persuade the kid to take lessons as she thought Shelby could do well. Even though Shelby had a huge interest in music, she just didn't have any interest in dancing, wanting more to make music for others to dance to, instead. It was a surprise to Luke. Of all things she could have chosen, she chose this to make him, copy her.

"Oh, come on, Luke, you know you have a secret desire to dance," Rachel teased, receiving an annoyed look from him.

Lauren spoke up, looking like she was trying to keep from laughing. "Yeah, Luke. I didn't say it had to be a perfect mirror image," she pointed out with a smirk.

Luke stared over at the woman, whom he was paying for this. "Pretty sure that's how mirrors work."

"Not in this room, they don't. Now, get up on those toes." Lauren waved a hand through the air, in excitement.

He sighed under his breath before turning back to Shelby, who had dropped back on her heels. She then lifted onto her toes again and brought her hands up over her head just as a ballerina would.

Feeling himself go red in the face, Luke attempted to lift himself up onto his own toes. Lauren reminded him to lift his arms, as well, and had to hold it until Shelby could not hold her balance any longer, after thirty seconds.

Shelby giggled afterwards. It was a silent giggle but a giggle, nonetheless.

Luke just gave her a look that said, _just wait until we get home_. It didn't really intimidate the kid, considering she knew her dad would never do anything, intentionally hurtful to her.

With Shelby's time up, Lauren had them swap and let Luke take a turn, next. Now, Shelby had to mimic him. In actuality, coming up with ideas was actually harder than Luke thought. It took so long, he noticed Shelby was mimicking his hands on his sides thing, right down to the face he was making in concentration.

"I haven't even started yet," he pointed out to her.

"'I haven' even _sss_ -tarted ye'.'" Shelby repeated.

"I'm serious."

"'I'm serious,'" Shelby continued to repeat.

Luke let out another annoyed sigh, looking up towards the ceiling. He caught Shelby doing the same when he heard her sigh, afterwards.

Looking over at Lauren, he asked, "Can we move on, please?"

Shelby did the same thing, also asking, "Can we move on, please?"

He turned back to his little buddy, who turned back to look at him. "Okay, I think we are done, now."

"Okay, I think we are done, now."

Meanwhile, both ladies were basically having a field day, laughing at the scene as Luke and his "reflection" argued. Eventually, Lauren did call, time, and had Shelby stop mirroring her dad, despite how funny it was to watch, and had Luke switch out with Rachel.

Like with her dad, Shelby got to go first again, starting out simple. First, she touched her head, which Rachel did the same. Then, she moved her hands to her shoulders, then to her knees, and finally, her toes, and repeated the process. Unlike with her dad, though, Shelby seemed a little stiff and unsure, not being completely comfortable with her mom as she was with her dad, but there was still some slight comfortableness, at least.

After Shelby had another turn, Lauren called, time, and let Rachel have her turn. Luke was disappointed they didn't see Rachel have to do something as embarrassing as he did, but he figured it had to do with Shelby being more comfortable with him.

Rachel started out reaching towards the ceiling with both hands.

Shelby did the same.

She then reached down to the floor, then back up again before doing jumping jacks. Pretty much, Rachel's was a workout mirroring game. Shelby did do well keeping up with her mom, being a pretty active kid and all.

The next game, Luke, Rachel, and Shelby had to get into a circle and face each other while Lauren pulled out one of those red, playground balls. Stepping into the circle for now, Lauren lightly bounced the ball towards Shelby, having her say one thing that Lauren does that makes Shelby happy.

Shelby thought about it for a moment while holding the ball in her hands. Finally, she said, "You're helping our family."

Lauren couldn't help but smile at that compliment. "Aw, that's a great one, Shelby. And, I am glad to be able to help your family."

Shelby smiled in return.

Lauren then had her bounce the ball to either her mom or dad. The adults expected the kid to pass the ball to Luke, but was surprised when Shelby bounced it towards Rachel, instead. In fact, Rachel barely caught it, having looked over at him.

Lauren, who had stepped out of the circle and was leaning against the table, had her say what about Shelby makes her happy.

"What makes me happy about Shelby is…" Rachel paused. "There are so many things, actually, but, I guess if I had to pick one it would be how far she has come and has accomplished. Seeing how much you have grown the past year has certainly brought me joy."

Instead of a smile, Shelby actually frowned.

Lauren took notice. "What's wrong, Shelby?"

She dropped her gaze towards the floor.

"You can say whatever is on your mind," Lauren reminded her.

Shelby tried to force eye contact with her mom, but could not hold it and kept switching between the floor while holding one arm behind her and grabbing her right arm.

Stealing a quick look with her dad, she was eventually able to remind her mom, "you said… I don' try hard enough."

Rachel's shoulders dropped upon Shelby's reminder. "Well, I shouldn't have, peanut, and I am so sorry. I probably could have put it in a nicer way. I was just frustrated and sometimes we say things we don't mean when we're frustrated. But, I really do mean I am so proud of how much you've grown and accomplished."

Luke noticed Rachel share a look over with Lauren before turning back towards Shelby.

"Peanut, when I was your age, I felt I had to work extra hard to make your grandparents proud, because I knew I wasn't what they expected me to be," she explained. "I never felt I had any control in my life, and, yeah, maybe that's why I get on you so much with reminding you to take your feet off the couch. I don't mean to, but, yeah, maybe. So, I've been doing some thinking and…"

It slowly sunk in what Rachel was heading towards. Was she really about to wave one of her house rules?

She took in a deep breath, letting it out. "Since we've been implementing the _no shoes in the house_ rule and put that _no video games_ rule whenever I have to remind you, into play, you haven't been on the couch. I don't know about you, but it makes us feel more farther apart than closer together. So, I talked to Roger about this already after my one on one session with Lauren and I've decided, as long as shoes aren't allowed in the house, I will not get on you about having your feet up on the furniture."

That immediately rose Shelby's head.

"Really?" they heard her ask in surprise.

"It'll take some time for me to adjust, but yeah, peanut. Really, I mean that," she nodded. "Besides, the couch really is more comfortable than the floor." Rachel smiled that smile both of them shared.

It caused Shelby to return it with hers and held out her hands. "Can I have the ball back, please?"

"Sure, Peanut," Rachel passed the ball back which Shelby caught it.

"Mom makes me happy when she tries," Shelby immediately said without Lauren needing to ask the question.

Luke looked between his little buddy and Rachel. Anyone could agree that it was Shelby who made him, happy. So, this was a huge plus in his book, and a huge step in the right direction. For Rachel, and hopefully for all three of them.


End file.
